Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans that the UK will ratify the UN High Seas Treaty; and what steps he is taking to encourage global partners to do so.

Draft text for an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction - the BBNJ Agreement - was agreed on 5 March. It will be adopted by the Intergovernmental Conference at a further meeting, later this year. This is a landmark agreement for biodiversity and will mean much greater protection for over 60% of the global ocean.

The UK will work to ratify the Agreement as soon as possible, and work with global partners to ensure it is implemented quickly and effectively.