World governments are falling far short of an international pledge to conserve 30% of the ocean by 2030, according to a new report published ahead of next week’s COP16 summit in Cali, Colombia.
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Less than two years after governments pledged to step up conservation of the ocean by decade’s end, a new report has found that a mere 2.8% is “effectively” protected.
In December 2022, more than 190 countries adopted the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to safeguard global biodiversity, which has been dwindling at an alarming rate. One of the most notable takeaways of the framework is the 30×30 goal, which requires at least 30% of terrestrial, inland water, and of coastal and marine areas “effectively conserved” or otherwise restored from degraded states by 2030. With 23 elaborate goals to be achieved by 2030, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) states that this biodiversity framework aims to “halt and reverse nature loss.”
But new data, compiled by a consortium of nature funders and environmental NGOs, reveals that only 2.8% of the world’s ocean are likely protected “effectively,” with governments significantly off track to meet their 2030 target.
Only 8% of the world’s ocean is currently designated as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), zones where a government has placed limits on human activity in a bid to protect marine habitats and species for the good of the ocean, society, economy and culture.
Marine protected areas remain loosely and inconsistently defined and implemented by countries worldwide, and even those that committed to “high” of “full” protection may not actually implement or resource it in a way that is likely to achieve it, according to the report.
Since the adoption of the GBF two years ago, the number of MPAs has increased by a mere 0.5%. At this rate, just 9.7% of global marine areas will be protected, the report warns, far less than the international target.
Despite being a global goal, the GBF cannot be achieved unless all countries set more ambitious national targets, the report stresses.
Only 14 countries have designated at least 30% of their waters as protected areas: Monaco (100%); Palau (99%); UK (68%); Kazakhstan (52%); New Zealand (49%); Australia (48%); Argentina (47%); Germany (45%); Chile (41%); Colombia (40%); Belgium (38%); France (33%); Seychelles (33%); and the Netherlands (32%). Of these, just two countries have been found likely to have effectively protected more than 30% of their waters, Palau (78%) and the UK (39%).
About 90% of the UK’s MPAs are in its overseas territories, which enjoy much higher levels of protection than its domestic waters. Meanwhile, less than than 0.1% of the UK’s protected domestic waters – waters extend up to 200 nautical miles from the coastline – are effectively protected.
In the report’s foreword, former US Secretary of State John Kerry and former president of Costa Rica José María Figueres call on governments to “act together with urgency” to meet the 30×30 target.
The report makes five key recommendations for governments to improve and speed up action for ocean conservation, such as the ratification of the UN High Seas Treaty – the world’s first treaty to protect the high seas and preserve marine biodiversity adopted last year – and unlocking sufficient and durable international finance.
The concerning data was published ahead of the sixteenth meeting of the UN Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16), set to kick off on Monday in Cali, Colombia. At the conference, governments will be tasked with reviewing the state of implementation of the GBF.
According to World Wildlife Fund’s 2024 Living Planet Report published last week, there has been a global average loss of 73% in mammal, bird, fish, reptile, and amphibian species since 1970. The steep loss is largely due to man-made habitat destruction from unsustainable agricultural activities.
Featured image: Underwater Earth / XL Catlin Seaview Survey / Christophe Bailhache.
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