The United Kingdom and our overseas territories have created over 4.4 million sq km of marine protected areas from the South Atlantic and the Pacific to the Indian ocean. These waters safeguard king penguins on the Falkland Islands, green turtles on Ascension Island, grey reef sharks on the Pitcairn Islands and countless other species across the globe. I have had the privilege to visit the Falkland Islands and Ascension Island and see the amazing biodiversity that we are responsible for, and the oceans around those territories are vital to protect. The blue belt is one of the largest networks of protected ocean on Earth, and it exists because of British leadership alongside the Governments of the British overseas territories.’
We need to look around the world to see what happens when Chinese fishing interests move in. In Ecuador, thousands of octopuses and sharks have been left dead on the shore because of illegal fishing by Chinese vessels. We need to guard against that in future. Off the coast of Ghana, fishermen’s catches have fallen by 40% due to Chinese bottom trawlers decimating local fish stocks. Around the Korean peninsula, squid populations have collapsed by 70%. I hope that this legislation and this agreement will help to protect the oceans around the world and countries where there are no protections at the moment. If the Chagos islands are handed over, the same fleets will soon appear in some of those waters, and Chagos will be at the mercy of exploitation.
That is the context in which the House is considering the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill.
Shadow Minister, Andrew Rosindell MP speaking in the debate on the 16th October 2025 and you can access the full transcript here: Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill - Hansard - UK Parliament
Our shared oceans are a vital resource and provide habitats for precious marine life, as well as supporting the livelihoods of one in every ten people worldwide, and it is only right that we work to protect them for future generations. I am proud the UK has long been a global leader in protecting our seas, the ocean and marine life, working with counterparts both in the UK and overseas.
Currently, 374 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) protect 38 per cent of UK waters, which are all subject to planning and licensing regimes to ensure they are protected from harmful activities. The Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) sets the country on a path to deliver an improved marine environment and halt the decline in biodiversity which benefits us all. As set out in the EIP, the UK has a statutory target to have 70 per cent of designated features in MPAs in a favourable condition by 2042, with the remainder in a recovering condition.
At COP15 in 2022, almost 200 countries agreed a global commitment to reverse biodiversity loss and to protect 30 per cent of land and oceans by 2030. The UK also announced nearly £30 million to support developing countries to deliver the '30 by 30' target. In addition, in March 2023, UN Member States agreed the High Seas Treaty, which aims to place 30 per cent of the seas into protected areas by 2030.
I am aware that at the 2022 United Nations Ocean Conference, the UK, US and Canada launched the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Action Alliance, which brings together state and non-state actors to tackle the illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Through committing to implement international agreements, promote active monitoring, control and surveillance, and encourage transparency and data sharing, this alliance is growing and has welcomed several new countries to its membership.
The UK has also pledged funding to support marine protection, ocean research and activities to combat illegal fishing. These investments will bolster initiatives aimed at conserving our oceans and ensuring their long-term sustainability by allocating resources to these critical areas.
Finally, the first Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) have come into force. These areas of the sea will benefit from the highest level of protection which will exclude all fishing, thus encouraging full recovery of marine ecosystems. For HPMAs to be successful, the Government must work with the fishing industry, other marine industries and sea users in designating, managing and monitoring them.
In addition, the UK was among the first signatories to the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement at the UN on the 20th of September 2023. Work is currently in hand on the legislation and other measures needed to translate the detailed and complex provisions of the agreement into UK law before ratification when parliamentary time allows.
This issue has had a lot of cross-party support over the years and I was pleased to hear the current Labour Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs acknowledge the work of the previous Conservative Government in the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill which was debated on the 16th of October, when she said,
In all fairness, I pay tribute to the previous Government, who did a lot of work on the Bill.
However there are many serious questions yet to be answered including on enforcement measures on overfishing protection and marine protection areas, on mediation and resolution measures for disputed areas, on protections for British intellectual property in marine genetic research and, of course, on the vital issue of funding among others which I know will be pored over in the upcoming Committee Stage of the Bill.
As Andrew Rosindell MP explained, my colleagues and I
hope there will be a consensus, but there are many questions to be answered, and we need to go into this legislation in a lot of detail to ensure that there are not unintended consequences
Thank you to those constituents who brought the Greenpeace report to my attention; it certainly is concerning to read that their research suggests the '30 by 30' target will only be met in 2107, 77 years late. I note that, in response to the report, the Government has doubled down on its commitment to meet the target, which I welcome and I will continue to hold them to account to deliver on this target.
