Ireland's next National Biodiversity Action Plan will "align" with the new Global Diversity Framework adopted at COP15 today (Monday, December 19) the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has pledged.

The new global biodiversity deal which underlines a commitment by countries to protect 30% of land, waters and cut food waste in half was struck at the United Nations (UN) Biodiversity Conference COP15 in Montreal.

As part of the new Global Diversity Framework delegates from nearly 200 countries have agreed to "conserve and manage" at least 30% of the world’s lands, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans, with a particular emphasis on areas of key importance for biodiversity.

Delegates have also signed up to restoring "30% of degraded terrestrial, inland waters, and coastal and marine ecosystems and reducing to "near zero the loss of areas of high biodiversity importance".

Among the other key measures agreed included a commitment to "cutting global food waste in half and significantly reduce overconsumption and waste generation".

The COP15 delegates also backed a plan to "raise international financial flows from developed to developing countries".

Last week the Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Minister Malcolm Noonan, delivered a statement on behalf of the Irish government at the conference.

The minister told delegates that the Irish government had grown its international biodiversity spending to €15 million and were committed to scaling up biodiversity finance further.

Today the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) formally welcomed the adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework in Montreal.

It said the framework represented a "milestone" moment by world governments’ to the "global biodiversity crisis".

Dr Deirdre Lynn, head of delegation and biodiversity lead with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), said the COP15 deal's key aim is to "halt and reverse biodiversity loss and put nature on a path to recovery for the benefit of people and the planet".

"We need to remember that biodiversity affects everybody – crossing all boundaries, geographic and political.

"In Ireland we in NPWS are currently in the process of drafting our 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan and we will ensure that it aligns with the relevant elements of the framework.”

Meanwhile the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has also welcomed what she described as the "historic" outcome of COP15.

"Now the world has a double track of action for a sustainable global economy by 2050. Indeed, more than half of global GDP depends on ecosystem services.

"The global community now has a roadmap to protect and restore nature, and use it sustainably – for current and future generations. And investing into nature also means fighting climate change," the EU Commission president said.