Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use Phase 2 (IFSLU2) will operate in a range of countries that face critical vulnerabilities in the land sector arising from climate change, and which have an essential role to play in addressing the linked crises affecting climate and nature.

IFSLU2 will take a regional approach, covering Latin America; West, Central and East Africa; and Southeast Asia. Several countries are within scope, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Gabon, Indonesia, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. The final geographical scope will be determined during 2025.

As stated by the Secretary of State at Oral questions on 9 May 2024, we hope to table the legislation later this month.

The Department has been working with Eli Lilly to address issues with access to glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) for type 2 diabetics. Issues with the supply of Trulicity (dulaglutide) have been driven by an increase in global demand. We have worked closely with Eli Lilly during this time to try to minimise risks to patients in the United Kingdom. As a result, patients stabilised on Trulicity (dulaglutide) should be able to continue to obtain their medicine. The supply of Trulicity will be intermittent throughout 2024 and patients are advised to speak to their prescriber if they have any concerns.

We issued updated guidance to healthcare professionals, in the form of a National Patient Safety Alert, on 3 January 2024, on how to manage patients requiring these medicines.

Our guidance is clear that GLP-1RAs that are solely licensed to treat type 2 diabetes should only be used for that purpose and should not be routinely prescribed for weight loss. The General Pharmaceutical Council, General Medical Council, Health and Care Professions Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland have also issued a joint statement stressing the importance of health and care professionals meeting regulatory standards in relation to these medicines.

Darwin Extra applications are assessed by the Darwin Expert Committee which then makes recommendations to Defra on which grants to fund. The Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 5477 noted that Darwin Expert Committee members have declared an interest in 13 of the 107 organisations awarded Darwin Initiative grants in the past 3 years. These 13 organisations were awarded Darwin Initiative grants with a combined value of £37.9m, which represents 49% of the £77m awarded under Rounds 27-29; these 13 organisations also unsuccessfully bid for a further £76.3m of grant funding in Rounds 27-29.

The Darwin Initiative requires an Expert Committee with up-to-date, practical knowledge of how to implement successful international development and conservation projects. Under its last three funding rounds, the Darwin Initiative received applications from 915 organisations. To not permit anyone with links to these organisations to serve on the Darwin Initiative’s Expert Committee could limit Defra’s ability to determine which proposed investments are most likely to succeed.

To ensure the independence of any advice provided by the Committee, Defra has in place a robust conflicts of interest policy, where members are required to declare their interests and recuse themselves from the assessment of any application in which they have an interest. Decisions on which Darwin Initiative grants to award are taken by Defra.

Under its last three funding rounds, the Darwin Initiative received applications from 915 organisations.

To robustly assess applications against published criteria, Defra requires technical experts with relevant experience and knowledge. If we were to prevent experts with links to these 915 organisations from joining the Darwin Expert Committee, we would significantly compromise the Committee's capability to technically assess and make recommendations to Defra.

This is why Defra put in place a robust conflicts of interest policy, where members are required to declare their interests and recuse themselves from the assessment of any application in which they have an interest.

Decisions on which Darwin Initiative grants to award are taken by Defra.

The Darwin Expert Committee technically assesses proposals and provides its' recommendations to Defra for consideration. Defra appoints new members to the Committee following an open and competitive recruitment process, based on their capabilities and technical expertise and not to represent the organisation for which they work.

To ensure the independence of the advice provided by the Committee, Defra has in place a robust conflicts of interest policy, where members are required to declare their interests and recuse themselves from the assessment of any application in which they have an interest. Under its last three funding rounds, the Darwin Initiative received applications from 915 organisations.

The Secretary of State appoints an independent Planning Inspector to examine a revised Local Plan (including any Green Belt boundary change) and check that it is legally compliant and sound. Plans must be positively prepared, justified, effective, and consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework. If requested by the local authority, Inspectors may recommend modifications to the Plan they consider necessary for it to be sound. The Framework is not law, simply requiring compliance: examining Inspectors have regard to its policies insofar as they are a material consideration.

As Annex 1 makes clear, the revised Framework will come into effect where a revised Plan reaches pre-submission stage after 19 March 2024. However, for the purposes of determining planning applications, the new Framework’s policies came into effect on 19 December 2023.

The Secretary of State has a range of intervention powers available to him in relation to the Plan-making process. Decisions to intervene are exceptional and made on a case-by-case basis once all the facts and any relevant legal advice have been considered.

The Secretary of State appoints an independent Planning Inspector to examine a revised Local Plan (including any Green Belt boundary change) and check that it is legally compliant and sound. Plans must be positively prepared, justified, effective, and consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework. If requested by the local authority, Inspectors may recommend modifications to the Plan they consider necessary for it to be sound. The Framework is not law, simply requiring compliance: examining Inspectors have regard to its policies insofar as they are a material consideration.

As Annex 1 makes clear, the revised Framework will come into effect where a revised Plan reaches pre-submission stage after 19 March 2024. However, for the purposes of determining planning applications, the new Framework’s policies came into effect on 19 December 2023.

The Secretary of State has a range of intervention powers available to him in relation to the Plan-making process. Decisions to intervene are exceptional and made on a case-by-case basis once all the facts and any relevant legal advice have been considered.

The Secretary of State appoints an independent Planning Inspector to examine a revised Local Plan (including any Green Belt boundary change) and check that it is legally compliant and sound. Plans must be positively prepared, justified, effective, and consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework. If requested by the local authority, Inspectors may recommend modifications to the Plan they consider necessary for it to be sound. The Framework is not law, simply requiring compliance: examining Inspectors have regard to its policies insofar as they are a material consideration.

As Annex 1 makes clear, the revised Framework will come into effect where a revised Plan reaches pre-submission stage after 19 March 2024. However, for the purposes of determining planning applications, the new Framework’s policies came into effect on 19 December 2023.

The Secretary of State has a range of intervention powers available to him in relation to the Plan-making process. Decisions to intervene are exceptional and made on a case-by-case basis once all the facts and any relevant legal advice have been considered.

Responses were published on 19 December 2023.

The National Planning Policy Framework now makes clear that there is no requirement to alter Green Belt boundaries to provide housing land.

The National Planning Policy Framework now makes clear that there is no requirement to alter Green Belt boundaries to provide housing land.

Defra publishes the names of Darwin Expert Committee members and organisations they are associated on the Darwin Initiative website. Successful Darwin Initiative grant applications are also detailed on the same website. Defra does not reveal the identities of unsuccessful applicants as it considers this information to be sensitive. The current round of bidding for Darwin Extra grants is ongoing. Defra will publish details of successful applications when the process is complete.

The Darwin Initiative prevents Conflicts of Interest from influencing funding decisions by requiring its Expert Committee members to declare interests and recuse themselves from the assessment and discussion of any application in which they have an interest. This is monitored by Defra and in line with the Nolan Committee’s Seven Principles of Public Life.

The Darwin Initiative website details successful grants applications and names its Expert Committee members, alongside their associated organisations.

Darwin Expert Committee members have declared an interest in 13 of the 107 organisations awarded Darwin Initiative grants in the past 3 years. Committee members must recuse themselves from the assessment of any application in which they have declared an interest.

The 13 organisations are: Bangor University, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, C3 Philippines, Fauna and Flora International, International Institute for Environment and Development, Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh, Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, The Nature Conservancy, United Nations Environment Programme, University of Oxford, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wide Fund for Nature UK and the Zoological Society of London.

We remain committed to delivering on the $1.5 billion multi-donor Congo Basin Pledge made at COP26. Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) programme has supported projects on forest governance, legality, transparency and rights in the Congo Basin through a number of grants to leading non-governmental organisations. FGMC intends to launch a new competitive grants programme that will support actions of civil society organisations across the congo basin, subject to Ministerial approval of the programme's new business case in 2024. Details of the application process for these grants will be made public at the time of the launch.

In the last three year's His Majesty's Government has supported projects which have contributed towards conservation in the Congo Basin region, as follows:

Darwin Initiative. Further information about supported projects can be found at https://www.darwininitiative.org.uk/project-search/

Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. Further information about supported projects can be found at https://iwt.challengefund.org.uk/project-search/

Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use (IFSLU) programme has supported:

a. Africa Palm Oil Initiative (now renamed Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative), managed through ProForest. Covering Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon and the Republic of Congo (RoC).

b. Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in Djoum-Mintom landscape, Cameroon. This project is implemented by two partners: APIFED, an NGO promoting women's and indigenous people's rights and Ecotrading, an enterprise specialising in sustainable NTFP sourcing and trade.

Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) programme has supported projects on forest governance, legality, transparency and rights in the Congo Basin through a number of grants to leading non-governmental organisations

a. Client Earth (CE) - Using the law to address illegal use of forest resources and promote better forest and land governance. Covered Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.

b. Chatham House (CH) - Strengthening Forest Governance - preparing for the next 10 years. Covered DRC. Ended December 2022.

c. University of Wolverhampton (CIDT) - Strengthening Forest and Wildlife Monitoring & Law Enforcement in the Congo Basin. Covered Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), DRC, Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.

d. Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) - Strengthening forest governance through civil society monitoring and tracking illicit timber flows. Covered Gabon. Ended December 2022.

e. Fern - Consolidating good governance, tackling illegalities. Covered Cameroon and RoC. Ended December 2023.

f. The Proforest Initiative (PF) - Using deforestation-free commodity supply chains to support national initiatives to combat forest loss. Covered Cameroon. Ended December 2022.

g. The Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) - Embedding community real time monitoring to sustain livelihoods and forests in Central and West Africa. Covered Cameroon, DRC and RoC. Covered June 2022.

h. Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) - Local to global: Leveraging lessons and opportunities from rightsholders to drive sustainable, equitable and inclusive climate action. Covered DRC and Gabon. Ended December 2022.

i. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - Improving international and national governance frameworks and business standards for intact forests, climate and biodiversity. Covered Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.

j. World Resource Institute (WRI) - Consolidating Forest Governance through Transparency and Accountability. Covered Cameroon and RoC. Ended December 2022.

k. WWF - Strengthened multilateral engagement and collaboration with China's timber and palm oil supply chains to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Covered Gabon. Ended December 2022.

l. Zoological Society of London (ZSL) - Driving transparent, legal and sustainable forestry practices through financial, market and governance incentives. Covered Cameroon, Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.

m. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - Improving international and national governance frameworks and business standards for intact forests, climate and biodiversity. Covered Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.

Further information can be found in the FGMC's Annual Review at https://iati.fcdo.gov.uk/iati_documents/D0001101.odt

The UK has also made contributions to the Central African Forests Initiative (CAFI), a UN multi-donor trust fund, annually since FY2021/22.

From 2020-21 to 2022-23, Blue Belt spend has been £6.9 million, £7.7 million and £7.7 million respectively. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) does not keep the detail of funding specifically devoted to Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Defra's MPA team is funded through general administrative budgets to deliver management, monitoring and enforcement working alongside Defra's Arms Length Bodies.

The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) manages a highly regulated fishery, in accordance with its Marine Protected Area legislation. Only vessels which fully meet requirements of both the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and strict GSGSSI licensing requirements are able to conduct fishing activities. Scientific observers are deployed on every fishing vessel, and there are seasonal and spatial controls to ensure the fishery does not impact on the conservation of all animals living around these islands.

The UK is actively engaging through the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to develop a krill risk assessment framework to enhance protection for all krill-eating species, including baleen whales across the Scotia Sea region. Through its Marine Protected Area, the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands imposes additional restrictions on the krill fishery within its waters, including restricting fishing to the winter around South Georgia to prohibit fishing during the most important seasons for krill-eating species, prohibiting fishing within 30km of land, and keeping the South Sandwich Islands closed to krill fishing.

Roman Abramovich remains subject to an asset freeze, meaning he will not benefit from the sale of Chelsea Football Club. The proceeds of the sale remain frozen in a UK bank account, awaiting the establishment of a Foundation to spend the proceeds on humanitarian purposes in Ukraine.