UN Reviews Progress Towards 2030 Biodiversity Targets
Ankara (ANTARA) - Global progress towards the 23 targets aimed at halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030 is undergoing its first review at a United Nations summit that opened on Monday in Yerevan, Armenia.
The 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) will run until 30 October under the theme “Taking Action for Nature”.
The meeting marks the halfway point between the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022 and its 2030 deadline.
The latest UN report, released as the conference opened, shows that nearly 90% of parties have set national biodiversity targets and more than 70% have submitted progress reports. However, governments currently consider fewer than half of their national targets to be on track.
Talks in Yerevan will focus on accelerating implementation, mobilising funding, strengthening scientific guidance and increasing the participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities.
“The main purpose of this meeting can be summed up as reassessing what has been done so far, determining the next steps, and refocusing on areas where progress remains inadequate,” Professor Dogan Yasar, a member of the environment, biodiversity and climate change working group at the Turkish Academy of Sciences, told Anadolu.
Yasar said the next step was to turn national commitments into concrete action through stronger accountability mechanisms.
The 30x30 target remains far off track
One of the framework’s best-known commitments is the 30x30 target, which calls for at least 30% of the world’s land, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans to be effectively conserved by 2030.
The target is not limited to formally designating protected areas. They must also be effectively managed, ecologically connected and governed equitably, while respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities.
Protected Planet data released in October show that protected areas and other effective conservation measures cover about 18.7% of the world’s land and inland waters and 10% of its oceans.
The protection gap in marine areas remains particularly wide. A total of 23.09% of waters under national jurisdiction have been protected or conserved, compared with just 1.45% of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Other targets include restoring degraded ecosystems and reducing environmentally harmful subsidies by at least US$500 billion a year.
Yasar said biodiversity and climate policies could not be separated because forests, wetlands, oceans and soils store carbon while supporting food and water supplies and people’s livelihoods.
“Ensuring clean water is available to ecosystems must be a priority,” he said. “When clean water is available, healthy ecosystems thrive, with positive effects on biodiversity.”
The Yerevan conference is being held several weeks before the UN climate summit, COP31, which will take place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November.
Although the two meetings are convened under different UN conventions, both are expected to stress the importance of protecting and restoring ecosystems. Ecosystems play a vital role in limiting climate change and helping communities adapt to its effects.