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As the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) opens today in Yerevan, Armenia, a new United Nations report has warned that global biodiversity targets for 2030 are at risk despite significant national commitments to protect and restore nature.
The report, titled State of Biodiversity Action, was formally launched by UN Secretary-General António Guterres ahead of the Leaders for Nature Summit scheduled for October 16 in Yerevan.
The document provides the first comprehensive global assessment of collective progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted in December 2022. The framework sets 23 action-oriented targets for 2030 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and four long-term goals for 2050.
According to the assessment, nearly 90 per cent of the 196 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity have established national biodiversity targets aligned with the GBF, while close to 60 per cent have developed or updated their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
“More than 70% of Parties have submitted national reports, while Indigenous Peoples and local communities, subnational governments, businesses, financial institutions and civil society organisations have registered approximately 5,000 voluntary commitments to support implementation.
However, the report warns that these commitments have yet to translate into sufficient action on the ground. Of the national targets assessed by countries themselves, fewer than half are currently on track to be achieved.
The report identifies a critical ambition gap. Although national targets address an average of 22 of the 23 global targets, many countries have not fully incorporated the scope, quantitative elements and timelines required by the global framework.
Progress is particularly weak on Target 18, which calls for identifying and eliminating or reforming harmful incentives, including subsidies harmful to biodiversity, by at least $500 billion per year by 2030. While several countries have established targets to promote positive incentives for conservation, far fewer have committed to reducing harmful subsidies.
The report highlights serious shortcomings on Target 3, the flagship 30×30 target, which calls for conserving at least 30 per cent of the world’s land, inland waters and seas through effectively managed protected areas by 2030. Current national pledges fall significantly short of the global conservation ambition.
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