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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in his Department have been assigned to work on the Convention of Biological Diversity; and how many Ministers in his Department plan to attend the conference from 25 April to 8 May 2022.

The 15^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity represents an historic opportunity to secure agreement to ambitious global action over the next decade. The UK is committed to playing a leading role in developing an ambitious post-2020 global biodiversity framework to be adopted at COP15. The COP is due to take place in Kunming, China, later this year, though due to the coronavirus pandemic, we expect a delay to the planned dates of 25 April to 8 May. Minister Goldsmith will head the UK delegation.

Defra is the lead department for the Convention on Biological Diversity, working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO) and Cabinet Office. A core team is in place in Defra, drawing on expertise across Defra, its specialist arm’s-length bodies, and working with other Government departments, civil society organisations, and society at large. This includes working with the FCDO and our Posts across the diplomatic network, through which we are engaging host governments to support the delivery of our objectives. Nature is one of the key priorities in the UK’s COP26 Presidency, and so the Cabinet Office COP26 Unit is also supporting preparations for COP15 to ensure a successful delivery of our COP26 objectives.