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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the UK's commitments under the United Nations Biodiversity Conference are met ahead of COP16; and what steps his Department is taking to help stop global biodiversity loss.

The Government is committed to delivering for nature, and taking action to meet our Environment Act targets to restore and protect our natural world. We are working towards concluding the review of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) by the end of the year. We will publish a summary of findings in early 2025, to be followed by publication of a revised EIP in spring 2025. This will play a role in framing how we will meet our domestic and international targets to help us significantly improve the natural environment in England.

The four nations of the UK and the relevant UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies worked together to submit our National Targets to the Convention on Biological Diversity on 1 August, committing us to meeting all 23 of the Global Biodiversity Framework targets at home. We will publish the full UK National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan in due course, detailing further delivery plans and future ambitions.