As of Sunday, only 32 of the 193 Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity had submitted their updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs) to achieve the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted at COP15 in 2022.
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Over 80% of the nearly 200 nations that two years ago committed to preserve and restore global biodiversity have missed a deadline to submit national pledges on how they plan to achieve it.
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) were required to submit their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs) before the commencement of the United Nations 16th biodiversity conference, known as COP16, starting today in Cali, Colombia. These plans are expected to detail how countries intend to achieve targets and commitments outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), a landmark agreement adopted by 196 countries at COP15 in 2022 under the CBD.
However, as of Sunday, only 32 out of the 193 CBD Parties – including the European Union – had submitted their revised and updated plans.
Only five of the 17 megadiverse countries, which together are home to about 70% of the world’s biodiversity, produced NBSAPs: Australia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Mexico. Canada, Italy, France and Japan were the only G7 countries to submit plans. The UK and Germany did not submit a plan, while the US is not a signatory.
Colombia, this year’s summit host, also failed to meet the submission deadline but said it would present its plan during the meeting.
The GBF includes four overall goals for mid-century and a series of 23 more urgent and elaborate targets to meet by 2030 set the path to “halt and reverse nature loss” and safeguard global biodiversity in the coming decades.
Among the targets is a framework known as 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. Countries also pledged to mobilize $200 billion in nature financing per year.
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework goals and targets (click to view)
1. Protect and Restore
The integrity, connectivity and resilience of all ecosystems are maintained, enhanced, or restored, substantially increasing the area of natural ecosystems by 2050;
Human induced extinction of known threatened species is halted, and, by 2050, the extinction rate and risk of all species are reduced tenfold and the abundance of native wild species is increased to healthy and resilient levels;
The genetic diversity within populations of wild and domesticated species, is maintained, safeguarding their adaptive potential.
2. Prosper with Nature
Biodiversity is sustainably used and managed and nature’s contributions to people, including ecosystem functions and services, are valued, maintained and enhanced, with those currently in decline being restored, supporting the achievement of sustainable development for the benefit of present and future generations by 2050.
3. Share Benefits Fairly
The monetary and non-monetary benefits from the utilization of genetic resources and digital sequence information on genetic resources, and of traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, as applicable, are shared fairly and equitably, including, as appropriate with indigenous peoples and local communities, and substantially increased by 2050, while ensuring traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources is appropriately protected, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, in accordance with internationally agreed access and benefit-sharing instruments.
4. Invest and Collaborate
Adequate means of implementation, including financial resources, capacity-building, technical and scientific cooperation, and access to and transfer of technology to fully implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework are secured and equitably accessible to all Parties, especially developing country Parties, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as countries with economies in transition, progressively closing the biodiversity finance gap of $700 billion per year, and aligning financial flows with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the 2050 Vision for biodiversity.
TARGET 1: Plan and Manage all Areas To Reduce Biodiversity Loss
TARGET 2: Restore 30% of all Degraded Ecosystems
TARGET 3: Conserve 30% of Land, Waters and Seas
TARGET 4: Halt Species Extinction, Protect Genetic Diversity, and Manage Human-Wildlife Conflicts
TARGET 5: Ensure Sustainable, Safe and Legal Harvesting and Trade of Wild Species
TARGET 6: Reduce the Introduction of Invasive Alien Species by 50% and Minimize Their Impact
TARGET 7: Reduce Pollution to Levels That Are Not Harmful to Biodiversity
TARGET 8: Minimize the Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Build Resilience
2. Meeting people’s needs through sustainable use and benefit-sharing
TARGET 9: Manage Wild Species Sustainably To Benefit People
TARGET 10: Enhance Biodiversity and Sustainability in Agriculture, Aquaculture, Fisheries, and Forestry
TARGET 11: Restore, Maintain and Enhance Nature’s Contributions to People
TARGET 12: Enhance Green Spaces and Urban Planning for Human Well-Being and Biodiversity
TARGET 13: Increase the Sharing of Benefits From Genetic Resources, Digital Sequence Information and Traditional Knowledge
3. Tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming
TARGET 14: Integrate Biodiversity in Decision-Making at Every Level
TARGET 15: Businesses Assess, Disclose and Reduce Biodiversity-Related Risks and Negative Impacts
TARGET 16: Enable Sustainable Consumption Choices To Reduce Waste and Overconsumption
TARGET 17: Strengthen Biosafety and Distribute the Benefits of Biotechnology
TARGET 18: Reduce Harmful Incentives by at Least $500 Billion per Year, and Scale Up Positive Incentives for Biodiversity
TARGET 19: Mobilize $200 Billion per Year for Biodiversity From all Sources, Including $30 Billion Through International Finance
TARGET 20: Strengthen Capacity-Building, Technology Transfer, and Scientific and Technical Cooperation for Biodiversity
TARGET 21: Ensure That Knowledge Is Available and Accessible To Guide Biodiversity Action
TARGET 22: Ensure Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice and Information Related to Biodiversity for all
TARGET 23: Ensure Gender Equality and a Gender-Responsive Approach for Biodiversity Action
“COP16 presents a crucial opportunity for countries and organizations to demonstrate how they’re turning targets set in the Global Biodiversity Framework into rapid, ambitious implementation to secure a nature-positive, net-zero emissions future for all,” said Marco Lambertini, Convener of the Nature Positive Initiative. “We now need to see governments implementing the GBF, monitoring and reporting on progress and truly making peace with nature. We need all actors in society to align in contributing to the nature positive global goal.”
Crystal Davis, Global Director of Food, Land and Water at the World Resources Institute, said this COP will “test of how serious countries are about upholding their international commitments to stop the rapid loss of biodiversity.”
“The central measure of success will be whether countries are turning their commitments to conserve and restore at least 30% of the world’s land and water into national targets, backed by actionable national plans. Their actions must focus not just on numbers, but on protecting the places with the highest risk of extinction for species,” Davis added.
Nature Is Disappearing
Global biodiversity has been dwindling at an alarming rate.
According to World Wildlife Fund’s 2024 Living Planet Report published earlier this month, 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.
New data compiled by a consortium of nature funders and environmental NGOs and published last week also revealed 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.
Featured image: COP16.
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