Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill: Committee: Amendment 4

What happened: On 17 November 2025, the House of Commons voted on Amendment 4 to the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill during its committee stage. The amendment, which sought to strengthen environmental protections relating to international waters, was defeated by 318 votes to 143.

Why it matters: The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill is designed to implement international commitments on protecting marine biodiversity in areas outside any single nation's territorial control. Amendment 4 would have introduced enhanced requirements for environmental protection within that framework. Its defeat means the bill proceeds without those additional measures, leaving the legislation's environmental standards at the level the government considers sufficient rather than at the higher bar the amendment's supporters sought.

The politics: The vote divided sharply along government-versus-opposition lines. Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs voted unanimously against the amendment, in line with the government's position. The Conservatives (82 ayes) and Liberal Democrats (55 ayes) formed the core of the amendment's support, with small contributions from the DUP, Traditional Unionist Voice, and one Reform UK MP. Notably, the Greens and Plaid Cymru voted with the government against the amendment, suggesting those parties either accepted the bill's existing provisions as adequate or had strategic reasons not to back the opposition-led proposal. The vote follows a similar pattern to other recent environmental amendments, including Amendment 5 to the same bill, also defeated on the same day by an almost identical margin.