2nd Report - Scrutiny of international agreements: Agreement on Biological Diversity Beyond National Jurisdictions: the UN Oceans Treaty

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government welcomes parliamentary scrutiny of the BBNJ Agreement, says it intends to ratify once implementing legislation is enacted, and commits to an update to Parliament before that legislation is introduced.

• On ratification, it gives no target date: it "intends to ratify the Agreement as soon as legislation has been enacted and the UK is in a position to comply with obligations in the Agreement".
• On funding, it says it is "committed to working with and supporting others, in particular developing countries", and notes a £50,000 contribution to the Voluntary Trust Fund on 28 June 2023 and a Memorandum of Understanding with the Commonwealth Secretariat.
• On financial information, it says "there is no definitive financial information to provide at this stage", though the UK believes its annual contribution "could total up to £1million".
• On the Explanatory Memorandum, it states the information "was complete at the time the Agreement was laid for scrutiny and remains so", and that 21 sitting days "provides sufficient opportunity" for scrutiny.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error