Speeches by Gardiner.

“I want to look at the delivery plan and see how robust it is. If we look at the energy and emissions projections, they are expected to deliver over 100% of the emissions reductions to meet the carbon budgets 4 and 5, but only 75% of the savings needed for carbon budget 6. We have carbon budget 7 on top of that. How rea…”

“I would like to object that nobody has asked me to be a vice-chair.”

“Let me ask the question in a more positive way. President Lula, who I have huge respect for, has said in the past that the revenues that come from the exploration of oil and gas are precisely what will be used to turbocharge the move towards renewables and a net zero economy. Are there specific pieces of legislation th…”

“Could I ask you about a matter that has clearly been initiated by what happened under your previous president in Brazil? That is the moves in the EU and also in the UK under schedule 17 of our Environment Act to introduce supply chain legislation to avoid the transformation of forests into land for agricultural product…”

“Thank you. Finally, I remember Alice Amorim at COP29 from the extraordinary office for COP30, where she spoke very powerfully of Brazil’s efforts to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. Earlier you talked about auspicious moments. Is it an inauspicious moment that we have just had the announcement from Petrobras about th…”

“Excellency, let me interrupt you, because I know the Chair will have to move us on, and there are further questions I want to put to you. What are the key issues that need to be resolved before the TFFF can be launched at COP30? His Excellency Antonio de Aguiar Patriota: The most important issue that needed to be resol…”

“I am with you. His Excellency Antonio de Aguiar Patriota: You also mentioned the fact that a parcel of these resources would go into the indigenous communities. I think this is also worth highlighting. For the first time in our recorded history, let’s call it that, since the first Portuguese settlers arrived in Brazil …”

“Let me ask you though about the investment. I think you have predicated returns of $3.4 billion annually; that is if we get to the full fund. It is said that that would be used to pay tropical forest countries up to $4 per hectare annually. Is that enough? Of course a large part of that will be predicated to local indi…”

“Investors, indeed. They are properly investors, aren’t they? His Excellency Antonio de Aguiar Patriota: Yes. It is not only developed countries; it is not, “Oh, you polluted the world and now you must pay”. We are looking at countries like the United Arab Emirates, China is following closely and others, of course—the U…”

“Excellency, you have spoken about the importance of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility. You have also spoken about the tipping points, and you will have seen the Global Tipping Points report that came out just this month. That report talks about the way in which there has been drought and the El Niño effect over the …”

“May I take the Minister back to the wording of the Act? It says that it is an offence to pass information that would be “directly or indirectly useful to an enemy”. It does not say that it is an offence to directly or indirectly pass to an enemy information that would be useful. The difference is that in the first, it …”

“It has been almost 19 years since I first met Professor Alex Rogers at a two-day conference at Somerville College, Oxford, convened by the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment. The subject was international law on the high seas. The young postdoctoral fellow inspired us about the amazing biodivers…”

“The long-awaited report by the Joint Intelligence Committee on the link between biodiversity, sustainability and national security is still not with us. Lord Dannatt and other senior military figures have increasingly expressed concerns about the threat the collapse of global biodiversity poses to our food security and…”

“The right hon. Member is absolutely right to talk about the opening up of the Arctic and the geo-strategic threats that we face there. In that respect, would he support my earlier call that the Government should release the Joint Intelligence Committee’s report on the link between biodiversity, sustainability and natio…”

“Will the right hon. Member give way?”

“Will the right hon. Member give way?”

“Systems rely on diversity. Imagine a piano with 88 keys all tuned to middle C: Mozart would not have got very far. Yet what is happening to our global food system is a destruction of the very diversity on which our survival depends. Since 1900, the world’s crops have lost 75% of their genetic diversity. Four companies—…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“The hon. Lady will recollect that, of that £11.6 billion, £3 billion was ringfenced for conservation. Does she agree that it is important that we do not lose that element of ICF?”

“After the vile attack in Manchester, many of us in this House will have spent time with Jewish friends last week celebrating the festival of Sukkot. It was particularly emotional for me to do that with friends and to realise that for the sukkah—that temporary shelter where we eat that meal—you have to have sight of the…”