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

To ask His Majesty's Government how they will be participating in the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Colombia.

The Secretary of State for Defra, The Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE MP, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Nature), Mary Creagh CBE MP, will be taking part in the official High-Level Segment of the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) in Colombia. Minister Creagh is also scheduled to remain in Colombia after the conclusion of this segment to support the final negotiations. The UK will also be represented at CBD COP16 by a team of negotiators from Defra and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).