Speeches by Creagh.

“Sixty per cent of MPAs are protected by byelaws that limit the use of damaging fishing gear. The MMO is continuing its work to strengthen protections within the offshore marine environment. Can I say one other thing, hopefully to satisfy you? After gathering evidence last year on the impacts of fishing on seabed sedime…”

“I will consult Stephen Doughty, who is the Minister in this area, and we will certainly endeavour to get him to write to you or to get you a joint letter.”

“I do not think they have been encouraged to do so.”

“I will bring in Dr Lockhart on this. I would say that it extends to agrifood businesses too. As we go forward to the Belém COP in Brazil next year, we will see an increased focus on bringing the climate and nature pieces together, and a big focus on the bioeconomy. It is propitious timing for those discussions to begin…”

“My understanding is that one of the reasons why this process was put in place is that they were having to negotiate IP with individual member states, and they found it was taking three, four or five years. One of the things that has come out of DSI is that they get certainty with this process. I think there is a bit of…”

“COP16 did not happen in isolation. We had a triple COP year, and I feel for people who attended all three. We also had the UNFCCC taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, and the desertification COP meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which has just concluded. It was great to see that you, Mr Gardiner and Ms Heylings, attended C…”

“What I can say is that the COP went through the night into Saturday morning, because of some of the negotiations that were going on. I did not actually get back into the country until Monday, so there was a very practical reason for there being no oral statement. Technically, the COP has not actually concluded, because…”

“If you are talking about the capital grant schemes, we had high demand for some grant items, so the forecast spend for capital grants for this year was 49% more than was paid out last year. Parts of the capital grant scheme have been temporarily closed, so that we can prioritise funds for areas that will have the great…”

“Having gone from what I thought was my dream job as Chair of this Committee, it is wonderful to be back and see so many old friends and colleagues, and to see you in the Chair. I welcome the new Committee, which I know will do a stunning job. This is an incredibly important, cross-cutting Committee. We have been quite …”

“We have seen a rapid review of the environmental improvement plan. That will fundamentally inform some of the work that we intend to do, for example on NBSAPs—I am sure we will come on to them later, but I think that is important. It is important also to talk about the principles for nature-friendly investment, which t…”

“That is right. The six UK Government principles for voluntary carbon and nature market integrity were published in November at the climate COP. They are about how you use credits: they should be additional to action that you are taking within your own supply chain; they should be high-integrity; they should be disclose…”

“Well, that was their target. We do not yet have good primary data on where we are relative to the target, but we are investing in getting that primary data to inform policy and to help you in your audit work. The Green Finance Institute surveyed the Group of Financial Institutions for Nature to get insights into privat…”

“I give the hon. Lady the undertaking that we will watch our warthogs. I am happy to continue the dialogue, and I thank her for making that point. As described earlier, extending the Act to the four species demonstrates UK leadership, makes the existing ban more effective and adds protections for those four species. The…”

“Let me begin with the warthog—I did not think that I had anything to say on the warthog, but I do indeed, thanks to my excellent officials, who have travelled down from York today. The 2021 consultation set out options on extending the Act to species where threats to their conservation status could be exacerbated by tr…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Ivory Act 2018 (Meaning of “Ivory” and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2024. Let me begin, Mrs Harris, by saying what a joy it is to serve under your chairwomanship and how great it is to see you. This statutory instrument amends the Ivory Act 2018 in ord…”

“That is a fascinating question. What if we go to see the birds exhibition at the Natural History Museum, see a case full of hummingbirds and wonder how many of them are still alive in the wild? I do not know the answer to the hon. Gentleman’s question, but I will undertake to reply and write to him. With that, I hope t…”

“I said all I have to say on the warthogs earlier.”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for that point. We have committed to ensuring that future trade agreements promote the highest animal welfare standards. That was not always the case under previous trade agreements. I will come back to the hon. Gentleman’s question about museums. I mentioned in my opening speech the prescrib…”

“I said all I have to say on the warthogs earlier.”

“Walrus was included in the original consultation but was later removed following further analysis of the Windsor framework implications, so it is to do with the application of EU policy in Northern Ireland. We are committed to implementing the Windsor framework in good faith and to protecting the UK internal market. Wa…”