UK publishes roadmap to protect nature four months after UN deadline

The UK has released its national biodiversity strategy and action plan (NBSAP), outlining how it aims to meet commitments to protect at least 30% of land and sea, reduce pollution, and ensure sustainable trade of wild species.
The plan sets out how the UK will meet its obligations under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
The GBF, often described as the “Paris Agreement for nature,” was adopted at COP15 in 2022 with the ambitious goal of halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030.
It contains a suite of targets covering issues ranging from unlocking nature finance to enhancing corporate reporting requirements.
Countries were required to submit their updated NBSAPs under the GBF by the start of COP16 in October 2024, held in Cali, Colombia. However, as of February 26, 2025, three-quarters of nations had yet to publish their plans.
The UK was also the last G7 nation to do so—excluding the US, which is not a party to the UN biodiversity convention.
The UK is among the lowest 10% of nations globally in terms of biodiversity.
The UK’s NBSAP is a cross-Government effort involving the Department for Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, and Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
Key commitments include expanding protected areas to at least 30% of land and sea; reducing pollution to levels that do not harm biodiversity; promoting sustainability in agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry; and ensuring the legal and sustainable trade of wild species.
The UK is not currently on track to meet its 2030 target of protecting 30% of its land and sea, according to Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL).
The non-profit organisation claims that only 9.7% of England’s seas are effectively protected for nature, while there is just 3% of protected land.
While a larger amount of land and sea have been designated protected areas, WCL found little evidence of meaningful conservation progress, as many sites are still affected potentially by industrial and agricultural activities, climate-related extreme weather events, and pollution.
Similar concerns have been echoed by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) and the House of Lords’ Environment and Climate Change Committee which indicated in July 2024 that just 6.5% of UK land is genuinely protected in a way that counts toward the 30×30 target.
The OEP is calling for stronger leadership to embed environmental principles more effectively, improve transparency and accelerate progress toward legally binding targets
The newly published NBSAP also includes measures related to corporate responsibility and nature financing.
Under UK Target 15, the Government plans to implement legal, administrative and policy measures to encourage businesses – particularly large and transnational companies – to regularly monitor, assess and disclose their biodiversity-related risks, dependencies, and impacts.
This will include transparency requirements for companies’ supply chains and investment portfolios to reduce negative impacts on biodiversity and promote sustainable production and consumption patterns throughout the supply chain and not just with the end provider.
Disclosure on nature related targets are currently voluntary.
Under UK Target 16, the Government is focusing on promoting sustainable consumer choices through policy frameworks, education and improved access to information. A key goal is to reduce the global consumption footprint equitably by 2030, including halving global food waste, significantly cutting overconsumption and reducing overall waste generation.
UK Target 18 calls for the identification and elimination of harmful biodiversity subsidies by 2025, with a full phase-out or reform by 2030.
UK authorities have said they are committed to contributing to the global goal of cutting such subsidies by at least $500bn annually by 2030, while simultaneously increasing financial incentives that support conservation and sustainable resource use.
Under UK Target 19, the Government aims to boost biodiversity financing from public and private sources, domestically and internationally with a goal of making at least $30bn per year available by 2030. This is part of the broader international target to generate at least $200bn annually by 2030 to support biodiversity initiatives worldwide.
Syntegra MD Alan King said: “It is good news that the UK Government has finally published this roadmap. It is an important step forward in the international bid to beat climate change.
“We should be rightly proud of our natural resources and play our part by protecting them and promoting biodiversity for all it means to our environment at this key time.”