The ministers agreed to work together to protect the oceans, eliminate plastic pollution in all areas of the environment, combat biodiversity loss, illegal trade in wildlife, deforestation, desertification and land degradation. They will collaborate to protect the oceans and jointly promote an ambitious program of action in view of the upcoming UN Ocean Summit in 2025 to be held in Nice, including through ongoing negotiations on a new binding treaty on plastic pollution and promotion. New area-based management tools under the Convention on Marine Biological Diversity for Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.
The Ministers also pledged to continue their joint work to mobilize finance for nature and align with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), and commit to implementing it in a comprehensive and effective manner. To meet CMB commitments, France will double its international funding for biodiversity by 2025 and the UK will maintain its commitment to allocate £3 billion in international finance to fight climate change for nature between 2021 and 2026. The UK and France are encouraging all countries with capacity, as well as the multiple development banks Parties and international financial institutions, to increase funding for biodiversity and harmonize financial flows on the CMB. They will also support developing countries in implementing the CMB, in particular the goal of protecting 30% of the planet’s land and 30% of its seas, through active leadership and support for the High Ambition 2.0 Coalition for Nature, People and Forests. and the Climate Leaders Partnership and the Global Oceans Alliance.
Ministers also pledged to work with partners to halt deforestation by 2030. Building on the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forestry and Land Use, the One Forest Summit, Forest and Climate Leaders (FCLP), and the upcoming Climate Finance Summit, the UK, UK and France will work together on national clusters for countries Forestry, on innovative mechanisms for payments for ecosystem services based on the recent GEF report “Innovative financing for nature and people”, and on sustainable use of wood and biologically based materials, with first findings by COP28.
The two ministers also agreed that water management deserves special attention and welcomed the upcoming United Nations Water Summit to be held in New York. Countries will join forces to make this issue a priority on the international agenda and to strengthen international water governance.
Finally, the ministers agreed to strengthen their dialogue on global health issues, in order to jointly promote and encourage sustainable prevention, preparedness and response to epidemics, combat antimicrobial resistance and implement the One Health approach through appropriate initiatives, such as the joint One Health Action Plan and the PREZODE initiative, to which the Kingdom will join. United States after Secretary of State Therese Coffey signed the Declaration of Intent today.
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