Outcomes from Resumed UN Biodiversity Summit COP16, Rome

Wednesday 5th March 2025 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mary Creagh)]

This Government are committed to ending poverty on a liveable planet. The climate and nature crises define our times and it is the most vulnerable who bear the brunt. Over half of global GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature. Loss of biodiversity poses a serious risk to global food security by undermining the resilience of many agricultural systems to threats such as pests, pathogens and climate change.

COP16 resumed in Rome to conclude the work that began in Cali, Colombia last year. It ended with the successful adoption of all major outstanding items. The UK welcomes the positive conclusion to the negotiations, which demonstrates a continued commitment from the international community to work together to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. The agreement on resource mobilisation means that there is a clear strategy for global collaboration on raising finance from all sources to fund the work necessary to achieve the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework. By finalising the details of the monitoring framework and the global approach to reviewing progress in delivering the framework, we have ensured that there is a consistent and shared approach to tracking progress, which will be critical in understanding the impact of our interventions.

The UK also welcomes the formal launch of the Cali fund, following the successful conclusion of negotiations at COP16 to the convention on biological diversity. The launch of the fund means that it is now open to contributions from all sources, and all organisations looking to deliver tangible action around the world to support nature conservation and restoration. The Cali fund constitutes an important part of the global financial landscape for securing the funding necessary for achieving the ambitious target to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. The deal reached at CBD COP16 means businesses have the option of voluntarily contributing to the Cali fund if they use genetic information from nature. The fund supports the conservation and sustainable use of nature, with a significant proportion flowing to indigenous peoples and local communities.

Finally, the UK was pleased to publish a full national biodiversity strategy and action plan that commits us to achieving all 23 targets of the global biodiversity framework. The four nations of the UK, the overseas territories, and the Crown dependencies have worked collaboratively to develop the NBSAP. We must now work to ensure that this global agreement is implemented. In England, work continues to revise the environmental improvement plan. The revised, statutory plan will set out further information and clarity on how we will meet targets and commitments in England as a core pillar of the NBSAP, as we develop and deliver this vital work together.

We are grateful to the Colombian presidency for its tireless efforts in reaching agreement in Rome. We are committed to working with international partners to continue building global nature ambition and delivering successful outcomes at both the UN framework convention on climate change COP30 in Brazil later this year and CBD COP17 in Armenia in 2026. We also look forward to hosting IPBES-12, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, in England early next year.

[HCWS497]