UK launches NBSAP as Biodiversity COP 16 meets again in Rome

6 May 2026

Last week was a week of susbstance for biodiversity. Firstly, the UN Biodiversity COP (like the climate COP but for biodiversity) met for three days in Rome in order to complete discussions that began at COP16 in Colombia last October and November. Secondly, the UK announced its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP).

All signatory countries to the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have to provide an NBSAP that states how they aim to achieve the four goals and 23 targets in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) agreed in COP 15.

So, what are the key takeaways from the main event in Rome and the UK’s NBSAP?

The agreements at the resumed COP 16 in Rome included:

Resource mobilization and financial mechanism

The COP agreed to adopt a Resource Mobilization Finance Strategy to mobilise funds for nature protection and restoration (including from biodiversity offsets, carbon credits, foreign debt being forgiven in exchange for nature-enhancement, private philanthropy, or other novel sources) to support the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework. As part of a Resource Mobilization Strategy, Parties agreed to establish a permanent finance mechanism where funds would be held under the UN CBD, by 2030.

The Cali Fund

At 2024’s COP, the Parties agreed to create the Cali Fund – a system where organisations using genetic resources and digital sequencing information for commercial use contribute a portion of their revenue or profits into a ‘pot’ from which monies can be distributed to the countries providing such resources. This was officially launched in Rome last week.

Affected sectors will most likely include:

–> Pharmaceuticals,

–> Cosmetics,

–> Plant and animal breeding and agricultural biotechnology,

–> Industrial biotechnology,

–> Laboratory equipment associated with the sequencing and use of digital sequence information on genetic resources and information, and

–> Scientific and technical services related to digital sequence information on genetic resources, including artificial intelligence.

Monitoring framework

The parties enhanced the existing monitoring framework for planning (NBSAPs), monitoring (using identified indicators), reporting (national reports) and reviewing (at COPs), as agreed in COP 16, to measure the implementation of the KMGBF.

The UK launched their NBSAP on the first day of the COP 16 Conference.

The NBSAP draws on policy and regulation already in place across England (Environmental Improvement Plan), Scotland (Scottish Biodiversity Strategy), Wales (Nature Recovery Action Plan) and Northern Ireland (Nature Recovery Strategy). It also includes Crown Dependencies and UK Overseas Territories. The NBSAP document further notes that the drivers of biodiversity strategy will also include other obligations such as the Fisheries Act and Nationally Determined Contributions.

The document also lists the finance being mobilized to support the attainment of the KMGBF goals and targets including:

–> £11.6 billion International Climate Finance pledge on protecting and restoring nature between 2021/22 and 2025/26 including £1.5 billion on forests to support the Global Forest Finance Pledge

–> Delivering ocean initiatives through the £500 million Blue Planet Fund

–> Protecting and restoring biodiversity and reducing poverty through the £100 million Biodiverse Landscapes Fund

–> Addressing declines in species and wildlife through the UK flagship challenge funds: including the Darwin Initiative, Darwin Plus, Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund and a new marine focused Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature Grants Programme.

Commitments in the NBSAP marry to the KMGBF targets that include:

–> Protect 30% of land and sea by 2030

–> Reduce pollution from all sources by 2030

–> Minimise the impact of climate change and ocean acidification on biodiversity

–> Ensure that areas under agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry are managed sustainably

–> Encourage and enable business, and in particular ensure that large and transnational companies and financial institutions regularly monitor, assess and transparently disclose their risks, dependencies and impacts on biodiversity

–> Ensure that people are encouraged and enabled to make sustainable consumption choices.

The UK’s NBSAP document details government action on nature across all four nations of the UK. However, it does not provide much information on how businesses may be affected by the Plan.

The lack of detail is not hugely surprising as in England the Environmental Improvement Plan is still undergoing a rapid review by Defra. There are also proposed changes to Planning Policy that include the creation of a new strategic Nature Recovery Fund, and there is a Land Use consultation currently available for comment. Wales are refreshing their Nature Recovery Action Plan to introduce statutory nature recovery targets while the Northern Irish Nature Recovery Strategy is still in development.

However, the document is important in that it states that the UK agrees to the key commitments in the KMGBF. For business, we know for sure that the government will be requiring at least some organisations to report on their biodiversity impacts and dependencies in the future.

Parties to the CBD will report on their NBSAPs in 2026 and 2029 and this is where we will start to see how the UK’s biodiversity and nature recovery plans are developing, alongside those of the other signatory countries to the KMGBF.

Parties will have to measure and monitor their progress in meeting the targets according to the following indicators:

–> Headline indicators – high-level indicators which all Parties will use, enabling aggregation for an assessment of global progress, as well as measuring national progress;

–> Binary indicators – collated from responses to questions in national reports, these will provide a count of the number of countries that have undertaken specified activities;

–> Component and complementary indicators – optional indicators that supplement the headline indicators, can be thematic in nature, and may apply at the global, regional, national and subnational levels.

In conclusion, the UK’s NBSAP document is a useful reference tool on what the government have planned across the UK, even if it does not give much detail in how the UK will respond to the KMGBF targets.

What would be useful to see in 2025 is all the national governments helping business to be part of a golden thread running throughout their national and international biodiversity actions and commitments.

To fully realise nature recovery, policies and regulations must be well communicated to business and easy to find and follow, in a way that allows business to clearly see and understand their role in nature recovery.

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Published by:

Lesley Wilson AISEP

Policy and Engagement Lead

Lesley is Policy and Engagement Lead at ISEP with a focus on the rapidly developing area of biodiversity and natural capital. On behalf of ISEP, Lesley also supports and is a member of the Steering Group of the UK Business and Biodiversity Forum. Lesley has worked in environmental sustainability for 15 years and previously delivered programmes and solutions in sustainability for business at the British Standards Institution, including ground breaking standards in biodiversity net gain and natural capital. Lesley has a qualifications in business management (MBA) and climate change management, and mentors environmental students at the University of Westminster.