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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to help ensure that the (a) Convention on Biological Diversity framework and (b) COP 26 are coordinated in (i) work on and (ii) approach to tackling biodiversity loss and climate change.

Biodiversity loss and climate change are interlinked crises and cannot be tackled in isolation. This is why nature will be one of the key areas of focus at UNFCCC COP26 in Glasgow and why we will be pushing for the agreement of ambitious global targets for biodiversity at CBD COP15 in China.

To amplify the linkages between the two agendas, at COP26 we will be encouraging countries to use nature based solutions as a way to tackle biodiversity loss and climate change including mobilising more finance for nature, investing in sustainable and resilient agriculture and protecting important ecosystems such as forests. We will work with China to ensure that the outcomes of both COPs are mutually supportive.