Environment Protection: Treaties

(asked on 6th July 2020) - View Source

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money they have spent in each financial year since 2015 to support the development and implementation of (1) the Convention on Biological Diversity, (2) the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, (3) the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, (4) the Ramsar Convention, (5) the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, (6) the African–Eurasian Waterbird Agreement, (7) the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, (8) the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, and (9) the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; and for each such agreement and body, how much of that money was (a) a voluntary, and (b) a mandatory, contribution.


This question was answered on 20th July 2020

The information requested on money spent and staff resources to support development and implementation of the listed agreements and bodies is not held centrally. Compiling it would be a complex exercise incurring disproportionate costs. We have therefore provided the information that is readily available below.

As a Party or Member of these Conventions, Agreements and Bodies, the UK is required to make financial contributions to support their development and implementation. Details of the mandatory and voluntary financial contributions made will be publicly available in their financial records. The UK’s mandatory contributions to the conventions and bodies listed amount to more than £18 million since 2015[1].

The UK also implements these agreements through financing a large number of cross-cutting programmes and activities. One example is the world-renowned Darwin Initiative which delivers on multiple international commitments and on the UK’s wider ambitions for the protection of global biodiversity. The Darwin Initiative has committed £57 million since 2015.

Staff resources are in place to work directly on UK input to the listed agreements and organisations and also on programmes to implement them. Given the cyclical timetable of the global meetings of the Conventions and Agreements and the changing nature of the topics which they cover, staff resources are adjusted over time to ensure the UK is able to participate effectively in them. For this reason, it is difficult to accurately quantify the staff resources that have been involved since 2015.

The UK Government is fully committed to putting nature at the heart of our plans for tackling the interlinked global crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. Our departure from the EU presents an important opportunity for the UK to play a stronger global role and in some areas this will require additional resource. Efforts are underway to make sure that resources are available in order that we seize these opportunities, starting with securing an ambitious set of post-2020 global biodiversity targets at CBD COP15 and successful hosting of COP-26.

[1] Based on current exchange rates. Some subscriptions are paid in non-sterling currencies.

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