On the 17th of July 2023 Barry questioned Jane Rumble OBE, Head of the Polar Regions Department at Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, during an Enviornmental Audit Committee Sub Committee on Polar Research.
“It’s difficult for researchers to know how they can communicate their findings to policy makers”, argues Barry, asking Ms Rumble what work is being done to improve communications between research and those who can turn said research into policy.
On the 12th of July 2023, Barry questioned a representative from the UK Atomic Energy Authority in the first public meeting for the first Energy, Security and Net Zero Select Committee.
Barry questioned the panel on their technology, arguing that, by the time it will come into effect, the 18 year olds sitting behind the panellists will be 93.
This was a part of the inquiry into the work of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, lead by Grant Shapps.
On the 12th of July 2023, Barry questioned Thames Water bosses “transparency” on how £15.7billion of debt was massaged into £14billion and how 151 workers may end up paying the price for the company’s mismanagement with their jobs.
Thames Water claimed that shovelling money to their share holders is “ancient history”… Barry stated that Sir Adrian and him have “different definitions of ancient”.
The company has to pay interest on its debt. That interest has gone up in line with CPI (inflation). So ultimately guess who is going to pay for it? They say it won’t mean higher water bills for consumers… let’s make sure we hold them to that.
After this Barry challenged the regulator, OFWAT who seem to have encouraged over-leveraging and allowed Macquarie to extract £2.8 billion for shareholders.
Who's responsible for monitoring indoor air quality and what enforcement powers do they have? Nobody and none.
on the 5th of July 2023 Barry sat with the Enviornmental Audit Committee to question an expert panel on outdoor and indoor air quality targets.
The panel featured Larissa Lockwood, Director for Clean Air at Global Action Plan, Professor Nicola Carslaw, Professor in Indoor Air Chemistry, University of York and Dr Tom Woolley, Architect and Environmental Consultant, Rachel Bevan Architects.
The panel recomended greater “long term monitoring” of indoor ventilation before we tackle the “much greater problem that is retrofitting our building stock” to better improve air quality.
“Canine fertility clinics” breed dogs to look “novel” but are not providing the appropriate veterinary care.
Barry Gardiner sat with the Enviornment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee on the 4th of July 2023 to examine pet welfare and abuse.
After being asked by Barry about the dangers of canine breeding facilities, one panelist argued that we need a Veterinary Act that is "appropriate for the 21st centuary" to better protect our dogs from harmful breeding.
The panel interviewed Sarah Carr, CEO, Naturewatch Foundation, Dr Melisa Donald, President, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), Dr Justine Shotton, Senior Vice President, British Veterinary Association (BVA) and Dr Sean Wensley, Senior Veterinary Surgeon for Animal Welfare and Professional Engagement, People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA)
“Virtually every other country in the world has engaged in land reform that has broken up large tracts of land ownership and democratised it” - Barry Gardiner.
The Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee is looking into the next steps government should be taking on tenant farms - which make up roughly one third of all farmed land in England. This follows the government publishing, in May of this year, its response to a review of the sector undertaken by Baroness Kate Rock.
The Committee questioned Baroness Rock on the 27th if June 2023 on the recommendations in her report aimed at allowing tenanted farmers to deliver sustainable food production, meet the challenges of climate change and enhance biodiversity.
We now know that in 2022 the umber of energy efficiency improvements dropped 55% from the year before. This year we would need to have two and half times the number of energy efficiency improvements to reach our targets, on our current path, we won’t do it - Barr.
On the 19th of June 2023 Barry questioned Nick Winser CBE, Commissioner, National Infrastructure Commission and Joanna Campbell, Assistant Director, National Infrastructure Commission.
When Barry asked them what the NIC recommends the government does, Winser “avoided the question” rather elegantly however.
On the 14th of June 2023 Barry attended an Environment Audit Committee (EAC) meeting on outdoor and indoor air quality targets.
The Committee had the opportunity to question stakeholders and experts about outdoor air quality targets.
Barry made sure that attempts to downplay the role of animal agriculture in global warming did not go unchallenged.
On June 13th 2023 Barry attended an Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee hearing in which he questioned Professor John Gilliland, Special advisor at the Agriculture Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), Tony Grayling, Director of Sustainable Business and Development, Environment Agency and Dr Eleanor Reed, Principal Specialist in Soils, Natural England.
Barry argued that the Government’s current soil health targets are “unambitious” and are a step back from targets set by the EFRA Committee by 2030.
“The more land we use for our purposes, the more that biodiversity, recreation, other species are going to be crowded out.” - Barry Gardiner
The Environmental Audit Committee sat on June 7th 2023, in which Barry questioned George Monbiot, author of Regenesis: Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet, on the role that land usage plays in climate change and food security.
How, when globally we are projected to need to feed 2 billion more people, can we allocate our land in a form that serves people and the climate? - asked Barry.
Monbiot stressed the importance of land beyond farming, such as for biodiversity, recreation, living and industrial space etc.
Farming occupies 38% of the land surface of the UK… 26% of that is grazing for livestock… It produces a very small proportion of our food but it has a humongous ecological opportunity cost and carbon opportunity cost” - Monbiot.
On the 23rd of May 2023 Barry visited the Dogs Trust with the EFRA Select Committee.
The Dogs Trust began as the National Canine Defence League in 1891 campaigning against cruelty to dogs and for better dog welfare. It became the Dogs Trust in 2003 and is currently the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, caring for around 14,000 dogs across a network of 24 rescue and Rehoming Centres in the UK.
The visit focussed on puppy smuggling and the illegal smuggling of dogs into the UK as the Trust is receiving and looking after many dogs that brought into the UK from nearby Dover.
On May 5th 2023, Barry attended an EFRA oral evidence session into soil health, in which they discussed the barriers to more sustainable soil management; the potential of the Government’s new Environmental Land Management Schemes to address these problems; and other ways that the Government could encourage changes in our food system to deliver better outcomes for soil health.
In this session, Barry questioned James Robinson, England Vice Chair, Nature Friendly Farming Network; Richard Bramley, Chair, NFU Environment Forum; Professor Pippa Chapman, Chair in Biogeochemistry in the School of Geography, University of Leeds and James Woodward, Sustainable farming officer, Sustain Alliance.
In the Enviornment Audit Committee (EAC) on 18 May 2023, Barry challenged Baroness Penn, the Treasury Lords Minister, HM Treasury on holding buisnesses accountable to reach their net zero targets.
Barry questioned Penn on what the “penalty” would be if companies don’t comply with net zero targets - he was told the “market” would fix it .
“We don’t have time for the lagarts in the market to comply” argued Barry as he told Penn and her colleagues that they are setting a “pretty low bar” for buisnesses.
In the Environmental Audit Committee evidence session on 8 March 2023, Barry challenged members of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) on what their companies have done since becoming a member of GFANZ and how accountability can be improved for members. The questions were put to Tim Lord, UK Head of Climate Change at HSBC UK; Michael Marks, Head of Investment Stewardship and Responsible Investment Integration at Legal and General Investment Management; Roslyn Stein, group Head of Climate and Biodiversity at AXA; and Steve Waygood, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at Aviva Investors.
During the Environmental Audit Committee’s first evidence session on ‘Environmental change and food security,’ Barry asked the Chair of Adaptation Committee at Climate Change Committee, Baroness Brown; and Richard Millar, Head of Adaptation at the Climate Change Committee, about the impact of land use for bioenergy and sustainable aviation fuel on food supply and the potential impact of a climate trigger events on UK agricultural models.
During EFRA’s first evidence session for its inquiry into species re-introduction, Barry questioned Professor Richard Brazier; Dr Katie Brinkmann; Dr Sarah Dalrymple; and Dr Tony Sainsbury about the goals and composition of DEFRA’s England Species Reintroduction Task Force and how incentives and penalties can be balanced for preserving public goods under the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS).
To conclude EFRA’s inquiry into food security, Barry quizzed Rt Hon Mark Spencer MP, Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries; and David Kennedy, Director General for Food, Biosecurity and Trade at DEFRA on what the Department is doing to address exorbitant supermarket profits and to provide free school meals for children living in poverty.
In the Environmental Audit Committee hearing on 1 February, Barry challenged Marian Spain, Chief Executive of Natural England over Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and how Natural England can be held to account to ensure they are fulfilling their role appropriately.
In the EFRA Committee’s hearing on 17 January 2023, Barry questioned Rt. Hon. Mark Spencer MP, Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries; Mike Dowell, Deputy Director for EU Fisheries Negotiations and Policy at DEFRA and Colin Faulkner, Deputy Director for External Fisheries negotiations at DEFRA on the latest round of annual negotiations with the EU, Norway and the Faroe Islands regarding the quotas of fish stock that UK fishers are legally allowed to catch.
In the EFRA Committee’s hearing on January 10th, 2023, Barry questioned Minister of State at DEFRA Lord Benyon; Minister for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment at Foreign Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park; Deputy Director of International Marine Environment at DEFRA James Smith and Acting Deputy Director of Ocean Policy at FCDO Lowri Griffiths about strengthening labelling and certifications requirements for products containing seafood, notably in the context of international trade.