Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the (a) analysis and (b) recommendations of the Global Biodiversity Outlook Report 5, published on 15 September 2020, (i) on biodiversity loss, (ii) on human encroachment and destruction of ecosystems, as increasing the risk of emergence and spread of zoonotic diseases and (iii) on a biodiversity-inclusive One Health transition.

The GBO5 report is being used to inform our work both internationally and domestically. It provides a comprehensive assessment of progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and its findings will be fully considered by all Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at the 24^th meeting of Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice. This in turn will inform the ongoing development of post 2020 biodiversity targets which are due to be agreed at CBD CoP15 next year. The UK is committed to the adoption of ambitious post 2020 biodiversity targets that will address the destruction of ecosystems as a driver of biodiversity loss and a contribution to the emergence zoonotic diseases. The GBO5 will also be one of a number of reports which will assist in bringing nature to the forefront of discussions at UNFCCC COP26, which we will host in November next year.

At home the report points to the need for enhanced implementation. In England, the 25 Year Environment Plan marked a step-change in our ambition, and we are already taking action to implement that. We are putting in place the legislative framework for nature recovery through the Environment Bill, including provisions for legally binding targets on biodiversity and the wider environment. We are increasing funding for nature's recovery, investing in green jobs, woodland expansion and peatland restoration. We are developing a new Environmental Land Management scheme that will reward farmers and land managers for delivering environmental public goods, including thriving plants and wildlife.

Our support for international action to address the causes of the current pandemic and minimise future zoonotic disease emergence and spill over, along with the need for the One Health approach to take proper account of environmental health, will be informed by the report and many other scientific reviews.