Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Japan Trade Agreement: Climate Change Commitments

Thursday 19 November 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The UK-Japan agreement includes provisions on climate change that reaffirm commitments to the UN framework convention on climate change and the Paris agreement.
  • The agreement promotes trade in low-carbon goods and services.
  • The UK government asserts that investor-state dispute settlement does not pose a risk to the natural environment and protects British businesses trading abroad.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Christine Jardine Lib Dem Edinburgh West
Climate Brexit Business & Trade
Context

Concerns about the potential impact of the UK-Japan free trade agreement on climate change commitments.

Question

What assessment she made of the potential effect of the free trade agreement with Japan on the UK's progress on meeting its climate change commitments. The agreement is seen to have certain provisions on data and lack of investor-state dispute settlement clause, but it is noted that ISDS has been used by large corporations to sue Governments over environmental regulations.

Answer from Greg Hands

The UK-Japan agreement locks in the benefits of the EU-Japan deal, including provisions on climate change such as those that reaffirm our respective commitments to the UN framework convention on climate change and the Paris agreement; those that promote trade in low-carbon goods and services; and those that support co-operation on trade and climate. Japan has announced it will seek to become carbon neutral by 2050. The UK is already party to ISDS with dozens of agreements, but the country has never lost a case brought against it in ISDS.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific assessment requested about the potential effect on climate change commitments was not provided.

How: Alarmism Is Misplaced

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Q2 Christine Jardine Lib Dem Edinburgh West
Brexit Environment
Context

Concerns about the inclusion of ISDS in trade agreements post-Brexit due to its potential misuse by large corporations to challenge environmental regulations.

Question

Will the Minister confirm that, to protect our natural environment, the UK will not seek such an arrangement with either Japan or any other new trading partners after Brexit. The questioner highlights cases where ISDS has been used by corporations against Governments on issues like water pollution, deforestation and fracking.

Answer from Greg Hands

The hon. Lady's alarmism about ISDS is misplaced as it protects British businesses trading abroad and there are no cases where the UK has lost an ISDS case. The UK remains a party to ISDS with dozens of agreements, but never lost a case brought against it.

Not addressed: The specific confirmation requested about excluding ISDS in future trade agreements was not provided.

How: Alarmism Is Misplaced

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