L

Lord Blencathra (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 12 March 2026

Debate

Peatland Restoration

Contribution

My Lords, the United Kingdom peatlands hold over 3 billion tonnes of carbon. I welcome the Government’s commitment to continue funding the Conservative Government’s innovative £50 million England Peat Action Plan, since the benefits of peatland restoration are significant and multiple. While the Peatland Code is a valuable source of revenue to incentivise this work, based on reducing carbon emissions, it is not enough in many parts of England. Will the Minister go back and press Defra to encourage greater private sector investment in the other goods provided by restoration, for example from the water and insurance sectors? Crucially, does he share the concerns of many organisations that the environmental delivery plans, the EDPs, in the UK’s Planning and Infrastructure Act, risk damaging nature-based markets by allowing developers to bypass legal obligations for on-site protection and just pay into a general centralised fund instead?

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