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Written question asked by Kerry McCarthy (Labour) on Friday, 9 January 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 January 2026 (named day). It was answered by Angela Eagle (Labour) on Thursday, 29 January 2026 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Food Supply: Supply Chains

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact global deforestation and desertification on the UK’s national food security, supply chains and food prices.

Answer

The UK imports 40% of its food and is therefore exposed to supply chain risks such as deforestation and desertification via food security and price impacts associated with food imports.

Defra routinely conducts and updates assessments on a range of threats. HMG pub-lishes assessments in the National Risk Register and Chronic Risks Analysis, includ-ing on biodiversity loss and its interactions with ecosystems, on gov.uk.

The Government is committed to supporting sustainable production, trade and use of deforestation linked products. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee, sponsored by Defra, have created the Global Environmental Impacts of Consumption indicator, an indicator which includes analysis of the impact of forest risk commodities in global supply chains. The indicator estimates that UK consumption drove 29,300 hectares of deforestation in 2023.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
104465
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Forests Food supply Prices Supply chains Deserts
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk