Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking with his international counterparts to secure a global agreement on protecting at least 30 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030.

As set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan, the UK will work with partners internationally to make sure that a robust evidence base informs the adoption of ambitious, realistic and measurable post-2020 targets at the 15th Conference of the Parties of the Convention for Biological Diversity in 2020.

This should include the agreement of new ambitious targets for protection of the world's oceans. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office works closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to promote the UK's ambitions in this respect.