Environment Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 11 February 2014.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the UK has taken towards achieving an international agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea including a globally accepted mechanism for designation of high seas marine protected areas before the end of the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly this year.
In accordance with the commitment made in the Natural Environment White Paper, the Government is committed to the negotiation of a new implementing agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction which should, in particular, address the designation of marine protected areas (MPAs).
DEFRA, working in close cooperation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, has played an active role in discussions on this issue at the United Nations Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction. At its last meeting, a process was agreed to prepare for a decision to be made by the end of the 69th session of UN General Assembly on the commencement of formal negotiations for a new Agreement.
The UK will continue to press for an agreement that recognises the role MPAs play in the conservation of marine biodiversity when discussions on the scope, parameters and feasibility of any future implementing agreement are undertaken at the forthcoming UN Working Group meetings.
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