To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2024 to Question 19037 on Climate Change: Investment, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing an additional £3 billion per year for nature restoration for adaptation as set out in the report by the Climate Change Committee entitled Investment for a well-adapted UK, published on 1 February 2023; and how much funding his Department plans to provide for nature restoration and adaptation in each of the next ten years.

Through the Environment Act 2021, the Government committed to the legally binding target of creating or restoring more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside of protected site by 2042. Taking actions for nature, including protecting our land and species, is also a core part of our third National Adaptation Programme.

This Government is not currently planning to make an additional assessment around providing £3bn per year on nature restoration for adaptation and cannot commit to funding beyond the life of this parliament, but regularly reviews budgets as part of business planning and spending review decisions.

Defra has guaranteed an average £2.4bn annual budget for the farming sector for the life of this Parliament. This includes paying farmers to restore valuable habitats such as lowland peat and to engage in sustainable agroforestry and wetland management, which will support adaptation to climate change. A range of bespoke funding also exists to support nature restoration. Our recently awarded Species Survival Fund is supporting 20 projects with £25m for habitat creation and restoration, while Natural England has launched 12 Nature Recovery Projects spanning over 300,000 hectares since 2022, with 13 more to come by 2025.