Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 8 June 2026.
Alex Sobel
Labour/Co-operative, Leeds Central and Headingley
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department distinguishes between sustainably managed commercial forestry and deforestation-linked timber imports.
Mary Creagh
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Global Environmental Impacts of Consumption indicator, funded by Defra, estimates that UK consumption of wood products is linked to circa 8,000 hectares of deforestation in 2023, associated with circa 0.4m tonnes of CO2 emissions.
The UK has a robust framework in place to ensure that timber placed on the UK market is legally harvested. Under the UK Timber Regulations, it is prohibited to place illegally harvested timber on the market, and businesses must carry out due diligence to demonstrate legality.
This approach distinguishes between legal and illegal timber and helps tackle deforestation linked to illegal logging, while supporting the supply and use of timber from legal and sustainable sources.
Yes0 people think so
No0 people think not
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
