Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the World Economic Forum’s top two global risks over the next ten years, namely extreme weather events, exacerbated by climate change, and biodiversity loss.

We recognise the importance of these global risks highlighted by the World Economic Forum. No society can thrive without protecting the environment on which we rely. That is why this Government is committed to ambitious action on climate and biodiversity. The UK is providing global leadership to end poverty on a liveable planet.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are key elements of the Government’s National Risk Register.

Internationally, we work closely with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, who provide the best available science to assess these risks. We are building global environmental ambition by accelerating delivery of the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement, including through our domestic actions.

Domestically, our independent Climate Change Committee is working on the 4^th Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA). We are building global environmental ambition – accelerating delivery of the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement, including through our domestic actions. Defra is responsible for coordinating requirements set out in the UK Climate Change Act 2008, including preparing a National Adaptation Programme every five years, informed by the CCRA. The State of Natural Capital report shows how to mitigate risks from biodiversity loss. We have also launched a rapid review environmental improvement plan to deliver on our legally binding environment targets.