UK belatedly publishes nature pledge at COP16 in Rome as it seeks ‘leadership role’

The UK has belatedly published its plan for how it will “halt and reverse” biodiversity loss this decade, as nations gather in Rome for resumed COP16 talks.

As anticipated, the plan sees the UK commit to implementing a lengthy list of global targets within its borders, including protecting 30% of its land and seas, plus restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems, by 2030.

It is the last G7 nation to release its national biodiversity strategy and action plan (NBSAP) – excluding the US, which is not a party to the UN biodiversity convention.

The plan comes four months after the UN deadline, which was for countries to submit plans by the start of the COP16 summit in Colombia in October.

As analysis by Carbon Brief and the Guardian revealed at the time, the UK was among 85% of nations to miss the due date.

As of 26 February, three-quarters of countries are yet to publish their NBSAPs, including the world’s most biodiverse nation, Brazil, and COP17 host Armenia.

Catching up

At COP15 in 2022, nations signed a landmark agreement called the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which aims to “halt and reverse” nature loss by 2030. It is often described as the “Paris Agreement for nature”.

As part of the framework, countries agreed to submit new NBSAPs by COP16 in October 2024. 

NBSAPs are blueprints for how individual countries plan to tackle biodiversity loss within their borders. The latest round of NBSAPs should also include information on how countries will meet the targets of the GBF.

They are similar to nationally determined contributions (NDCs), plans that outline how individual countries envisage meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. However, a key difference is that countries are legally obliged to submit NDCs, but not NBSAPs.

Carbon Brief and Guardian analysis released shortly before COP16 in October 2024 showed that just 25 countries and the EU had met the deadline to submit an updated NBSAP ahead of the conference.

Since then, a further 21 countries have released NBSAPs, including COP16 host Colombia. The UK releasing its plan brings the total to 47 – meaning three-quarters of countries have still not submitted NBSAPs.

Countries that were unable to meet the deadline to submit NBSAPs ahead of COP16 were requested to instead submit national targets. These submissions list biodiversity targets that countries will aim for – without an accompanying plan for how they will be achieved.

As of 26 February, 125 parties had submitted national targets.

UK ‘leadership’

Back in October, Carbon Brief reported that the UK was among countries to miss the UN deadline for submitting an NBSAP.

UK officials blamed a series of political changes for delay, including a change of power in Scotland in May 2024 and a general election ushering in a new Labour government in July.

In a press briefing on Friday 21 February, a UK official said the government was waiting for the release of Labour’s new Environment Improvement Plan, which is scheduled for later this year, before releasing its NBSAP.

However, after negotiating alongside other countries at the resumed talks of COP16 in Rome on Tuesday, the government reversed this and decided to publish its NBSAP immediately.

(Countries have gathered again in Rome for another session of COP16 after negotiators failed to reach agreement on a long list of issues in Colombia.)

The UK is seeking to play a leadership role at the Rome talks. It has been lobbying for other nations to come forward with new NBSAPs – making its status as the last G7 nation to submit one increasingly uncomfortable.

Ahead of publishing its NBSAP, the UK had already submitted national targets to the UN.

In its national targets submission, the UK committed to meeting the 23 targets of the GBF within its borders, ranging from protecting 30% of its land and seas through to reducing the overall risk from pesticides by half by 2030. 

As anticipated, the annex of the UK’s NBSAP repeats these commitments. The annex is accompanied by a “blueprint” document outlining the policies the UK is putting in place to try to meet its targets.