A Scottish Government-led international plan for nature has been backed by more than 280 government, cities and local authorities across the world, Environment Minister Mairi McAllan has announced.

The Edinburgh Declaration is a shared agreement to protect and preserve global biodiversity and has recently been signed by the State of Jalisco, Mexico, the city of Quebec, Canada, and the City of Sydney, Australia.

It calls for strong, transformative action, at all levels, to halt biodiversity loss across the globe, and will be presented at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Canada this December.

On Biodiversity Day at COP27, Environment Minister Mairi McAllan will take part in a panel with some of Scotland's Edinburgh Declaration partners to showcase its success and discuss how the plans can be replicated on a wider scale.

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Environment Minister Mairi McAllan said: "We have reached a crucial moment with the current COP27 negotiations, and COP15 approaching next month. We must make sure that the climate and nature crises remain high on the global agenda, and are recognised as part of the answer to many of the world's challenges.

"Scotland believes that all levels of government - in particular where responsibilities are devolved as is the case for Scotland - have a central part to play to deliver the transformative actions needed to halt biodiversity loss across the coming decades. 

"The Edinburgh Declaration is our call to state parties to hear the voices of over 280 signatories at COP15 in Montreal next month. We need them to take stronger actions and make bolder decisions across the coming decade.

"In Scotland we will shortly publish a new biodiversity strategy - underpinned by statutory nature recovery targets - which will set out our vision to stop biodiversity loss and protect, restore and regenerate nature."

Secretary General at Regions4 Natalia Uribe said:

"Both Climate COP27 and Biodiversity COP15 are unique opportunities for subnational governments to show the world that they play a critical part in stopping biodiversity loss.

"The Edinburgh Process success and its Declaration invite us to continue to look for inspiration at the subnational level of government on how to bridge the two Conventions and moreover, how to implement the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework."