Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with international counterparts to help protect marine environments.
Internationally, the UK continues to work to protect the marine environment.
The United Nations Convention Law on the Sea is the legal framework for all activities in the ocean. The UK supports a moratorium by the International Seabed Authority on the granting of exploitation licences until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems and strong, enforceable Regulations are in place. The UK is committed to ratifying the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement),
In the Convention on Biological Diversity, we are leading efforts as Chair of the Global Ocean Alliance to effectively conserve and manage at least 30% of the ocean by 2030. In the International Whaling Commission, the UK in steadfast in our support for the global moratorium on commercial whaling. In the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) the UK supports designations of large-scale Marine Protected Areas. Through UN climate talks, the UK promotes ocean action. The UK is currently working towards agreeing a legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, as a member of the High Ambition Coalition.
The UK is one of 19 countries of the ‘High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy’ – a leader level initiative pressing for sustainable management of 100% of national waters.
UK Ocean science is recognised as world leading, and UK overseas aid includes technical assistance through the £500 million Blue Planet Fund to support developing countries around the world to reduce poverty and protect the marine environment. The £50 million Blue Belt Programme supports marine protection and sustainable management across the UK Overseas Territories.