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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on the agreements made at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15).

The UK played a leading role at COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in securing agreement to a historic package of measures to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Our priority for COP16 and beyond is to drive global delivery of these agreements both at home and abroad, by working closely with our international partners.

Since COP15, we have worked internationally to drive delivery of the Kunming Montreal targets, including by:

• announcing an initial contribution of £10m to the newly-established Global Biodiversity Framework Fund;
• launching the Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature (OCEAN) competitive grants programme under the UK's £500 million Blue Planet Fund, which will run until 31 March 2029 and provide up to £60m to support innovative proposals from local coastal communities and organisations that aim to deliver marine protection and poverty reduction outcomes; and
• committing to lay in Spring 2024 forest risk commodity legislation which will require UK-based operators to ensure that the regulated commodities used in their supply chains were produced in compliance with local laws relating to land ownership and use.

Domestically we have:

• driven forward the global commitment to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030, publishing a new map to show what areas could count in the delivery of “30by30”, which will ensure our most important places, at the core of nature’s recovery, are protected for our iconic species to thrive;
• announced £15million new funding to accelerate nature recovery across our most cherished Protected Landscapes, and a new Rainforest Strategy backed by £750,000 funding to protect the delicate and globally rare temperate rainforest habitats found across the Southwest and Cumbria;
• reaffirmed our commitment to deliver Marine Net Gain (MNG), ensuring that developments at sea also deliver measurable benefits for nature; and
• established a comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) covering 38% of our waters, with sites protecting 40% of English waters. We are now focusing on making sure our MPAs are effectively managed for nature, with the aim to have management measures to protect features from damaging fishing activities in English MPAs by the end of 2024.

The four nations of the UK are working together and aim to publish a UK-wide revised NBSAP (National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan) by May 2024, ahead of CBD COP16.