Key High Level Talking Points

WHY 30X30?

1. Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that conserving at least 30% of our land and ocean can not only curb biodiversity loss, but also store carbon, help prevent future pandemics, and bolster economic growth - it’s a quadruple win.

2. The 30×30 proposal is supported by the best available science, which clearly demonstrates that 30% is the  absolute minimum extent of protection needed to help address global biodiversity loss, mitigate and adapt to climate change, provide essential ecosystem services and other economic benefits, and reduce the risk of future zoonotic disease like Covid-19.

3. Currently, only roughly 17% of the world’s land and 7% of the ocean have been protected.

4. One million plant and animal species face extinction. We’ve lost 60% of terrestrial wildlife and 90% of the big ocean fish. Ninety-six percent of all mammals on earth are now people and our domesticated livestock.

THE Global TARGET

The most recent UN Convention on Biological Diversity Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework draft states as Target 3: Ensure that at least 30 percent globally of land areas and of sea areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and its contributions to people, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.

BENEFITS OF 30X30

1. A Cambridge report found that the economic benefits of protecting 30% of the planet outweigh the costs by a ratio of at least 5-to-1.

2. A McKinsey report found that 30% protected globally would support 30 million jobs in ecotourism and sustainable fisheries.

3. Protecting ecosystems could provide a third of the climate mitigation needed by 2030.

4. The recent UNEP/WCMC Strengthening Synergies report found that conserving 30 percent of land in strategic locations could safeguard 500 gigatons of carbon stored in vegetation and soils – around half the world’s vulnerable terrestrial carbon stocks – and reduce the extinction risk of nearly 9 out of 10 threatened terrestrial species.

5. Protecting 30% is good for economic growth and can create jobs - expanding conservation does not conflict with economic development

   • An analysis from Swiss Re Institute found that 55% of global GDP depends on high-functioning biodiversity and ecosystem services.

6. Marine Protected Areas are good for fisheries and provide food security to communities.

   • Fisher communities argue marine protection interferes with food supply. In fact, it is the opposite. Studies have found that fully protected areas can help restore fish populations by over 600% on average, help replenish fishing grounds around the MPAs because of the spillover, and yield bigger fish over time.

   • One recent study found a 35% reduction in fishing area resulting from MPA designation was compensated for by a 225% increase in total catch after six years.

THE PANDEMIC & BIODIVERSITY

Research shows that better preserving biodiversity - the abundance of animals, plants, insects and microbes - can limit the spread of disease from animals to people. In addition to providing a safety net against illness, nature and protected areas also shield us from hunger and poverty, safeguard us from pollution and climate change, and supply us with medicine and revenue.

THE GLOBAL INVESTMENT

1. An estimated $140 billion is needed annually to effectively protect 30% of the planet’s land and ocean compared to the $24.3 billion in current spending. Investments in protected areas must increase dramatically in recognition of the need to provide adequate long-term funding for the long-term asset of nature, with the full incorporation of Indigenous People and Local Communities. Research shows these investments yield benefits of at least five times their cost.

2. There is unequal distribution of the costs and benefits of 30% protection, as investors and beneficiaries are different groups. For example, given the location of the world’s most threatened biodiversity, significant investment will be required in low and middle-income countries. These countries will require financial assistance to capitalize on nature conservation sector potential and help achieve 30% global protection.

3. Governments, philanthropists, and the private sector have committed to increase their financing for biodiversity. At the UN General Assembly in 2021, in an unprecedented announcement, nine philanthropic organizations launched the “Protecting Our Planet Challenge” and pledged $5 billion to protect and conserve 30% of the planet by 2030 by supporting protected areas and Indigenous stewardship of their territories.

THE 30X30 PROPOSAL MUST BE A RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH TO CONSERVATION

1. Expanding the recognition of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) land rights is an effective, moral, and affordable solution for protecting our world and preventing the Indigenous rights violations that have historically plagued many traditional conservation strategies.

2. Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-Descendants — roughly 2.5 billion people — customarily manage over half the world’s land, but governments currently recognize their legal ownership to just 10%, according to a recent report from the Rights and Resources Initiative.

FINANCE DIRECTED TO IPLC-LED SOLUTIONS

Bezos Earth Fund has announced US$25 million to scale up locally-led climate and conservation solutions through the Shandia Alliance, a partnership between Rights and Resources Initiative, the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities and the Campaign for Nature.

THE 30X30 GLOBAL GOAL 

Our future depends on preventing the collapse of the natural systems that provide our food, clean water, clean air and stable climate. In order to preserve these services, we must protect enough of the natural world to sustain them.

Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that conserving at least 30% of our land and ocean can not only curb biodiversity loss, but also store carbon, help prevent future pandemics, and bolster economic growth — it’s a quadruple win.

The 30×30 proposal was developed as a scientifically based goal to respond to accelerated biodiversity loss by protecting at least 30% of the planet’s lands and oceans by 2030.

This is a global goal. Countries are not expected to have the same responsibilities in the implementation of the 30×30 spatial target. In some cases, protecting 30% nationally could be impossibly high on a practical level, while in others it may be inadequate in terms of safeguarding the most important areas for biodiversity. The proposal is that all countries support the global goal and make sovereign decisions in conjunction with the best science about their national contribution.

The CAMPAIGN FOR NATURE

The Campaign for Nature was launched in 2018 as a partnership between the Wyss Campaign for Nature and the National Geographic Society to raise awareness about the threats facing biodiversity and to inspire world leaders to take urgent action to support 30×30. This campaign is calling on policymakers worldwide to commit to a science-driven and ambitious new deal for nature at the 15th meeting of the United Nations Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held in Kunming, China.

Three essential components of a global deal for nature include:

1. a commitment to protecting at least 30% of the planet’s lands and waters by 2030;

2. an increased focus on respecting indigenous people’s rights and promoting indigenous management of terrestrial and marine areas; and

3. dramatically increasing financial resources to manage protected and conservation areas.

HIGH AMBITION COALITION FOR NATURE AND PEOPLE

In September 2019, Costa Rica suggested that the 30×30 proposal be included as the global protected areas target in the post-2020 Biodiversity Framework. To support the 30×30 proposal, Costa Rica has spearheaded the High Ambition Coalition for People and Nature (HAC), now made up of 78 countries. The HAC is co-chaired by France, Costa Rica and the UK, and 24 African nations are members (see member list here). Costa Rica is an example of the immense benefits of investing in conservation, transforming from a country with a very high rate of deforestation to a regional tourism and economic hub—as well as a climate and environment leader.

30X30 SUMMARY OF UPDATES

Science and economics continue to show the value of 30x30

• The 30×30 proposal is supported by the best available science, which clearly demonstrates that 30% is the absolute minimum extent of protection needed to help address global biodiversity loss, mitigate and adapt to climate change, provide essential ecosystem services and other economic benefits, and reduce the risk of future zoonotic disease like Covid-19.

• UNEP/WCMC found that conserving 30 percent of land could safeguard around half the world’s vulnerable terrestrial carbon stocks – and reduce the extinction risk of nearly 9 out of 10 threatened terrestrial species.

• A Cambridge report found that the economic benefits of protecting 30% of the planet outweigh the costs by a ratio of at least 5-to-1.

• A McKinsey report found that 30% protected globally would support 30 million jobs in ecotourism and sustainable fisheries.

Financing Continues to Grow for 30x30

Governments, philanthropists, and the private sector have committed to increase their financing for biodiversity. At the UN General Assembly in 2021, in an unprecedented announcement, nine philanthropic organizations launched the “Protecting Our Planet Challenge” and pledged $5 billion to protect and conserve 30% of the planet by 2030 by supporting protected areas and Indigenous stewardship of their territories. This marks the largest-ever philanthropic commitment to nature conservation, and Indigenous leaders welcomed the announcement as a sign of how the 30% target could be aligned with human rights.

The Road to COP15: UN Convention on Biodiversity

• Global CBD negotiations are underway. A final Framework will be agreed by all parties to the Convention at COP15 in Kunming, China taking place between July and September of 2022. It is understood that after the global agreement countries will develop and implement national conservation plans using systematic conservation planning to prioritize conserving the areas that are the most important for biodiversity.

• The most recent CBD Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework draft states as Target 3: Ensure that at least 30 per cent globally of land areas and of sea areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and its contributions to people, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.

African countries have an opportunity to take a leadership role in achieving the 30×30 global goal that will result in long-term benefits. New research provides specific evidence of the environmental, socio-economic and health impacts of protecting nature in the African context. Members of the High Ambition Coalition representing African nations are leading the way in ensuring that the research and the global commitment is translated into transformative action for their land and their people.

It is generally acknowledged that the African continent will be the most affected by the negative impacts of climate change on agricultural production and food security, with the poorest nations unable to afford expensive adaptation techniques. The IPBES report indicates that without urgent action, by 2100 (only 80 years from now) climate change could also result in the loss of more than half of African bird and mammal species, a 20-30% decline in the productivity of Africa’s lakes, and significant loss of African plant species.

Africa: The Conservation Continent, a collaboration between The Brenthurst Foundation and The Hailemariam and Roman Foundation, found that protecting biodiversity is critical to the post-Covid future of a prosperous, healthy and sustainable Africa. It recommends allocating a significant share of land to conservancies, providing a new avenue for sustainable tourism, which would pay large dividends, and quickly. Failing to act now means that pressures on the natural world will continue to threaten safe drinking water sources, survival of wildlife, prosperity of remote communities, and nature’s ability to protect us from future natural disasters, including pandemics and climate change.

(This paper was discussed at the Horasis Global Meeting, which can be viewed here. Password: CFN30×30!)

The Africa's Protected Natural Assets Report is the first comprehensive assessment of the social and economic importance of conservation areas in Africa. It examines indicators of the state of natural capital in conservation areas; analyzes their current socio-economic importance for nine different sectors and policy areas, and explores their future role in satisfying societal needs. The report builds on a review of available evidence, new analyses of satellite imagery and international data sets, as well as six site-level case studies. (UN 2021)

It is now clearer than ever that our destruction of nature not only causes serious harm to the planet, but also threat- ens the well-being and prosperity of people and economies. A critical building block for the transformation towards nature-positive development pathways is to recognize the economic and social importance of our natural capital and biodiversity. The Africa's Protected Natural Assets Report identifies these pathways for Africa.

Ecological Infrastructure is central to greater prosperity in Africa. This nature-based equivalent of built infrastructure underpins socio-economic development by providing cost effective, long-term solutions to service delivery that can supplement built infrastructure solutions. The South African National Biodiversity Institute has developed a number of relevant case studies that demonstrate the value of ecological infrastructure to national development agendas.

The African Union’s Green Recovery Action Plan for Africa 2021-2027 adopted in July 2021 recognized the role of oceans as essential and confirmed that “African countries should be encouraged to support the proposed target of achieving 30% of oceanic areas under protection by 2030 to be adopted at COP 15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity”.

Currently, only roughly 17% of the world’s land and 7% of the ocean has been protected. We’ve lost 60% of terrestrial wildlife and 90% of the big ocean fish. And at this time 96% of all mammals on earth are us humans and our domesticated livestock. Only 4% is everything else, from bears to elephants to tigers.

The catastrophic loss of nature poses a threat as serious as climate change to the future of humanity. This loss imperils our clean air and clean drinking water, the prosperity of communities, and our health, all while worsening the impacts of a changing climate. In fact, it will be impossible to prevent climate catastrophe without help from intact natural ecosystems.

Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that conserving at least 30% of our land and ocean can not only curb biodiversity loss, but also store carbon, help prevent future pandemics, and bolster economic growth - it’s a quadruple win.

• In a landmark scientific paper in Science Advances, over a dozen global experts noted the need to protect at least 30% of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030, in addition to setting aside another 20% of the planet as “climate stabilization areas” that would be protected from large-scale changes in land cover. Achieving these targets, the experts said, would conserve biodiversity and help achieve the Paris Climate Accord goals.

• In 2019, 145 experts from 50 countries collaborated on the most comprehensive effort to date to assess the state of biodiversity worldwide. In the resulting report, the IPBES Global Assessment, the authors documented the extent of the problem and described what is necessary to reverse the global trend of biodiversity loss. One of the key recommendations was “expanding and effectively managing the current network of protected areas.”

• The recommendation for protected areas in the IPBES report was echoed in the Draft Summary for Policymakers of the 5th Edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook, which called for “major increases” in both the size and effectiveness of protected areas.

Please find additional articles and reports on the scientific justification of 30×30 in the Review of Relevant Research.

Economics

Biodiversity loss is one of the greatest systemic risks for our economies, already generating costs in the trillions of USD from storm damage, insurance claims and reduced crop productivity, due to pollinator collapse and topsoil degradation. An analysis from Swiss Re Institute found that 55% of global GDP depends on high-functioning biodiversity and ecosystem services.

It has often been wrongly assumed that conservation stands in the way of economic development. However, recent research has found that the nature conservation sector in fact drives economic growth, delivers key non-monetary benefits (in the form of ecosystem services), creates jobs and is a net contributor to a resilient global economy.

The financial and economic benefits of protecting 30% of land and ocean outperform the status quo and far exceed the costs.

• A study by more than 100 researchers found that 30×30 provides greater benefits than the status quo, both in terms of financial outcomes and non-monetary measures like ecosystem services.

• The financial and economic benefits of 30×30 exceed the costs by a factor of at least 5:1.

Nature conservation must be a central element of post COVID-10 recovery plans. By protecting more nature, governments around the world can simultaneously create jobs, avoid long-term costs associated with climate change and biodiversity loss, and help guard against future pandemics.

• After recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the nature sector is projected to grow 4-6% per year compared to less than 1% for agriculture, timber and fisheries.

• McKinsey study found protecting 30% could support 30 million jobs in ecotourism and sustainable fisheries, directly add 650,000 new jobs in conservation management and support $500 billion of GDP in ecotourism and sustainable fisheries

30% Protected Marine Areas will be good for fisheries and provide food security to communities. Fisher communities sometimes argue marine protection interferes with food supply. In fact it is the opposite. Studies have found that fully protected areas can help restore fish populations by over 600 percent on average, help replenish fishing grounds around the MPAs because of the spillover, and yield bigger fish over time. One recent study found a 35% reduction in fishing area resulting from MPA designation was compensated for by a 225% increase in total catch after six years.

Public Health: Increased Protection, Human Health and the Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic provides powerful proof that nature and people are more closely linked than most of us realized. The cause of the Covid-19 pandemic - like previous pandemics that were transmitted by animals - was the trade of wildlife and the destruction of the habitats where they live. If we encroach upon wild places, it is easier for viruses to come on our doorstep. But when we protect nature, nature protects us.

• Research shows that better preserving biodiversity - the abundance of animals, plants, insects, and microbes - can limit the spread of disease from animals to people. In addition to providing a safety net against illness, nature and protected areas also shield us from hunger and poverty, safeguard us from pollution and climate change, and supply us with medicine and revenue.

• People have been acquiring harmful viruses and bacteria from contact with animals in the wild for millennia. As humans relentlessly encroach upon wild habitats and compete with animals for water, food, and territory, there’s bound to be more physical contact, yielding more conflict—and more contagion.
  If we degrade habitats, animals become stressed and shed more viruses. On the other hand, habitats with diverse microbial, plant, and animal species have lower risk of spreading disease to humans. Biodiversity dilutes any viruses that emerge and provides a natural shield that absorbs the fallout from pathogens.

The coronavirus pandemic has shown us what happens to our communities and economies when we don’t protect nature. Governments are now suddenly faced with the realization that protecting nature is not optional -- safeguarding our land and ocean does more than protect threatened biodiversity; it is also critical to rebuilding economies in a sustainable, healthy way.

Additional Resources: A Review of Relevant Research

The Global Investment

An estimated $140 billion is needed annually to effectively protect 30% of the planet’s land and ocean compared to the $24.3 billion in current spending. Investments in protected areas must increase dramatically in recognition of the need to provide adequate long-term funding for the long-term asset of nature, with the full incorporation of Indigenous People and Local Communities. Research shows these investments yield benefits of at least five times their cost.

There is unequal distribution of the costs and benefits of 30% protection, as investors and beneficiaries are different groups. For example, given the location of the world’s most threatened biodiversity, significant investment will be required in low and middle-income countries. These countries will require financial assistance to capitalize on nature conservation sector potential and help achieve 30% global protection.

Measuring the Biodiversity Funding Gap

The funding required to protect 30x30 is a small part of the overall funding needed to adequately safeguard biodiversity. A September 2020 report by the Paulson Institute, the Nature Conservancy and Cornell University found the biodiversity funding gap (the gap between how much is currently being spent and how much is needed annually to protect the most important biodiversity and the services it provides) to be an average of $711 billion per year (equivalent to 0.8% of global GDP). This is the difference between their estimate of $133 billion in current global spending compared to a total need of $844 billion, implying a need to increase funding by a factor of over five times.

Setting Milestones and Targets to Close the Gap

Using the above research to determine the amount of financing needed, the Convention on Biological Diversity has proposed the following milestone in its First Draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework:

Adequate financial resources to implement the framework are available and deployed, progressively closing the financing gap up to at least US $700 billion per year by 2030.

To close this gap, the First Draft has proposed two targets. Target 18 would reduce harmful subsidies by at least US $500 billion per year, and Target 19 would increase financial resources from all sources to US $200 billion per year, including at least $10 billion per year of increased international financing flows to developing countries.

The Campaign for Nature (CFN) believes that much more new funding should be directed to developing countries and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities and has proposed increasing the $10 billion figure in Target 19 to $60 billion. CFN’s intervention during the third Open Ended Working Group explaining this proposal and other recommended changes is available here. 

Tracking New Financing Commitments 

CFN is collaborating with others to produce a report on recent nature finance commitments from governments, philanthropists, corporations and investors. The group hopes to share an initial “biodiversity finance tracker” in early 2022 and then provide updates on additional financial commitments between now and COP15 in order to assess progress toward closing the biodiversity finance gap.

While much more is needed, some funders are starting to step up. A recent example of this is a group of nine philanthropic organizations that came together at the UN General Assembly in 2021 to launch the “Protecting Our Planet Challenge” and pledge US $5 billion to help protect and conserve 30% of the planet by 2030 by supporting protected areas and Indigenous stewardship of their territories. This marks the largest-ever philanthropic commitment to nature conservation, and Indigenous leaders welcomed the announcement as a sign of how the 30% target could be aligned with human rights. Decisions about where all of this funding will go have not been determined, although it is clear that given the location of the world’s most threatened biodiversity, significant and increased investment will be required in low and middle-income countries in order to help achieve 30% global protection.

Current Financing

CFN is collaborating with others to produce a report on recent nature finance commitments from governments, philanthropists, corporations, and investors. The group hopes to share an initial “biodiversity finance tracker” in early 2022 and then provide updates on additional financial commitments between now and COP15 in order to assess progress toward closing the biodiversity finance gap.

Achieving 30×30 will require a rights-based approach to conservation that engages Indigenous peoples and local communities as full partners and focuses on the most important places for biodiversity.

The 30×30 proposal must be a rights-based approach to conservation.

The identities, cultures, spirituality, and lifeways of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) are inextricably linked to biodiversity. Expanding the recognition of IPLC land rights is an effective, moral, and afford- able solution for protecting our world and preventing the Indigenous rights violations that have historically plagued many traditional conservation strategies.

The Research

• The IPBES Global Assessment stressed that IPLCs are critical to biodiversity conservation. The authors noted that 35% of all areas that are currently under formal protection and 35% of all remaining land areas with very low human intervention are traditionally owned, managed, used, or occupied by Indigenous Peoples. “Recognizing the knowledge, innovations, practices, institutions and values of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and ensuring their inclusion and participation in environmental governance, often enhances their quality of life and the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of nature,” the authors wrote.

• Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-Descendants (ADs) — roughly 2.5 billion people — customarily manage over half the world’s land, but governments currently recognize their legal ownership to just 10%, according to a recent report from the Rights and Resources Initiative. The authors describe how insecure, contested, and unjust land and forest tenure undermines international efforts to protect, manage, and restore nature. For these reasons, they conclude, governments are increasingly looking to recognize and strengthen the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants and local communities to their own lands.

• A report from the Rights and Resources Initiative makes the case for embracing a rights-based approach to conservation. The authors note that, while the current draft of the Convention on Biological Diversity

• post-2020 Framework includes the goal of safeguarding at least 30% of the planet, it does not guarantee that the rights of IPs, LCs and ADs will be fully respected and promoted. If conservation actors, governments, and IPs, LCs, and ADs work together, the authors argue, this new 10-year global framework could actively redress conservation’s colonial history and begin “decolonizing conservation” through community-led conservation approaches.

Finance Directed to IPLC-led Solutions

Bezos Earth Fund has announced US$25 million to scale up locally-led climate and conservation solutions through the Shandia Alliance, a partnership between Rights and Resources Initiative, the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities and the Campaign for Nature

The Campaign for Nature Activities

• Highlighting in the media the need for enhanced protections for Indigenous rights in the CBD Global Biodiversity Framework.

• Advocating for increased financial resources to secure land tenure rights for Indigenous Peoples, recognizing their essential role in achieving any 30×30 proposal.

• Advocating through official submissions to the CBD (December 2018, November 2019, and February 2020) that it recognize and promote Indigenous Peoples’ rights through the Global Biodiversity Framework and include Indigenous Peoples as central partners in the development and implementation of a new spatial target.

• Recommending that the input of IPLCs be better integrated across all aspects of the post-2020 framework and that a stronger target is developed specifically to advance IPLC priorities.

• Supporting IPLCs to have their own voices represented directly in the CBD process with a seat at the table through travel costs and grants for Indigenous organizations to build capacity and hold regional convenings. This is in recognition of the obstacles that still exist for full participation and partnership of Indigenous Peoples in the CBD negotiation process.

• Supporting Indigenous protected areas and Indigenous and Community Conservation Areas (ICCAs), and working with IPLCs to define culturally-appropriate approaches to conservation, is critical to achieving not only the goal of 30×30, but any lasting goal to safeguard nature for the future.

UN support for 30×30

1. The 30×30 proposal is currently Target 3 in the United Nations First Draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Continued advocacy to answer concerns and bring more countries on board to ensure its inclusion is vital over the next six months.

2. On October 13, the Kunming Declaration was adopted at COP15. The pact noted the growing support from countries for 30×30 and committed to increasing area-based conservation, improving the effectiveness of protected and conserved areas, and recognizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Growing Governmental Support for 30x30

1. As of January 2022, 78 countries have joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People to champion the proposal to protect or conserve at least 30 percent of the world’s land and ocean areas by 2030.

2. The Global Ocean Alliance now includes 71 member countries that are advocating for the protection of at least 30 percent of the world’s ocean by 2030.

3. 91 countries have now signed the Leaders Pledge for Nature, committing to significantly increase the protec- tion of the world’s land and ocean areas.

4. In August 2021, the three intergovernmental coalitions referenced above issued ajoint declaration express- ing strong support for a significant increase in terrestrial and marine protection, with 30×30 highlighted as the specific measure for ambition. Collectively, these efforts represent a majority of the world’s countries.

Multilateral Support for 30x30

1. The 2021 G7 issued a communiqué expressing its support for the 30×30 target.

2. The 2021 G20 released an environment communiqué highlighting commitments made by G20 members on biodiversity conservation, including those to support the 30×30 target.

3. In 2019, the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, led by 14 countries, issued an ocean action agenda that called for a global target to protect 30 percent of the ocean by 2030.

The IUCN Congress endorsement of 30x30

1. In September 2021, The IUCN World Conservation Congress passed Motion 101, which highlighted robust scientific support for increasing protected area coverage to 50% of the planet, supported 30×30 as a key target in the CBD Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and called for greater support and rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLC). The motion passed with nearly 90% of the government members’ votes and with unanimous support from Indigenous organizations that voted.

2. The IUCN World Conservation Congress passed Motion 40, which put forward IUCN’s official position and priorities for the CBD’s Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, including strong and explicit support for 30×30. The motion passed with over 98% of the government members’ votes and with unanimous support from the Indigenous organizations’ votes.

3. The IUCN World Conservation Congress also included support for 30×30 in the Marseille Manifesto, which was intended to capture priorities emerging from the Congress.

Key CBD Dates: Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

Working Group Sessions

Working Group Sessions 

The January 2022 sessions have been rescheduled for 13-29 March 

STBSTTA 24

SBI 3

OEWG-3 (Pt.2)

The resumed sessions of the 24th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 24) and the 3rd meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI 3) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as well as the third Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (WG2020-3) were scheduled to take place 13-29 March 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The full scenario note can be found here. 

The resumed sessions will begin with a joint opening plenary session of the three bodies. The joint plenary session is expected to include statements from the Presidency of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, China, a representative of the Government of Switzerland, and the Executive Secretary. Provision will be made for general opening Statements by regional groups, covering the three meetings, as well as statements by major stakeholder groups insofar as time allows. It is not envisaged that other Parties and observers would make opening statements.

Three sessions (of plenary or contact groups) will be held each day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., from 3 to 6 p.m. and from 7.30 to 10.30 p.m.

To ensure compliance with COVID measures and social distancing guidelines, the meeting venue capacity will be lower than in previous meetings. Thus, it will likely be necessary to limit the number of representatives on site at any one time to six per Party and three per observer organization (further limitations on the total number of representatives of observers may also become necessary depending on the demand).

While there is no limit on the total size of delegations, Parties and observers may wish to take the potential limits to access to the conference venue itself into account in determining the size of their delegations physically present in Geneva. Early registration by Parties is requested to allow the Secretariat and the host Government to make any necessary arrangements.

In accordance with usual practices, the designation of representatives to attend SBSTTA 24, SBI 3 and WG2020-3 meetings should be made through an official letter of nomination addressed to the CBD Executive Secretary, and sent as a scanned attachment by e-mail to: secretariat@cbd.int. Financial assistance is available to developing nations and SIDS.

COP15 (Part 2)

The second part of COP 15 will be a face-to-face meeting in Kunming, China, between July and September of 2022. Due to rescheduling related to COVID-19, the new date has been determined (as of January 2022). 

As with previous meetings, designation of representatives should be made through an official letter of nomination addressed to the CBD Executive Secretary, and sent as a scanned attachment by e-mail to: secretariat@cbd.int.

Draft 2020 Framework

The first draft of the 2020 Framework can be found here.

Below are suggested revised wordings for key targets:

Comments on the First Draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

Suggested Edits to Targets Relevant to Protected and Conserved Areas, Human Rights, and Resource Mobilization

TARGET 1

Current target language

Ensure that all land and sea areas globally are under integrated biodiversity- inclusive spatial planning addressing land- and sea-use change, retaining existing intact and wilderness areas.

Campaign for Nature’s comments

• We are strongly supportive of the component to “retain existing intact and wilderness areas” and believe that this iteration of the target marks a significant improvement over previous drafts.

• We support the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity’s proposal to add a component to this target to ensure recognition of the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities over lands, territories, waters and resources.

TARGET 3

Current target language

Ensure that at least 30 percent globally of land areas and of sea areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and its contributions to people, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well- connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.

Campaign for Nature’s comments

• We are strongly supportive of the inclusion of this target in the Post-2020 GBF. 30% is the minimum amount of land and sea areas that must be protected and conserved.

• We support the additions made to the language in Draft 1 of “especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and its contributions to people” and the inclusion of “effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems.”

• It is critical to revise this target language so that it explicitly ensures free prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

• We support improvements to the GBF that would appropriately recognize the contributions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ to biodiversity conservation outcomes and area-based conservation targets through supporting their management, governance, and secure tenure rights on their collective lands and territories.

• We recommend revising the text so that it promotes equitable governance in addition to management.

TARGET 19

Campaign for Nature’s proposed target language revisions

Increase financial resources from all sources by at least US$ 200 billion per year, including new, additional and effective financial resources, increasing by at least US$ 80 billion per year international grants to developing countries and Indigenous Peoples and local communities, leveraging private finance, and increasing domestic resource mobilization, taking into account national biodiversity finance planning, and strengthen capacity-building and technology transfer and scientific cooperation, to meet the needs for implementation, commensurate with the ambition of the goals and targets of the framework.

Justification and additional context for proposed edits

• In order to meet Milestone D.1, resources for biodiversity need to increase by approximately $700 billion over current levels. If harmful subsidies are reduced by $500 billion compared to current levels, then additional resources need to increase over current levels by $200 billion in order to close the $700 billion gap. Estimates of current expenditures vary from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimate of $78-91 billion per year to the Paulson report’s estimate of $124-143 billion per year. (Compared to this the “doubling of doubling” will mean an increase of only US$ 7.8 billion to US$ 18.6 billion per year in ODA for biodiversity and that is probably the basis for putting the figure of $10 billion increase in ODA in the current draft of post-GBF).

• “International financial flows” for biodiversity are not well defined and can theoretically include amounts ranging from investments by international private equity firms with market-based returns to bilateral grants from developed countries to developing countries and there is no baseline to establish existing levels of these total amounts. The additional $80 billion of grants to developing countries, Indigenous people and local communities (out of the total increase in global funding of $200 billion) we recommend above is based on estimates that the developing world will require approximately one-third of total global biodiversity funding (based on forthcoming research  on  protected and conserved area costs for 30×30), which yield an estimate of the biodiversity funding gap in the developing world of approximately $240 billion (one-third of the $711 billion overall gap). Estimates that one-third of the global biodiversity footprint is embedded in international trade yield the $80 billion recommended amount of grants to developing countries (one-third of $240 billion). Indigenous people and local communities are critical to implementing an ambitious post-2020 GBF and should receive a significant portion of the $80 billion in grant funding directly from donors, which would constitute a meaningful increase over current meager funding levels.

Additional context for proposed edits:

• Nature is the foundation of civilization and the global economy. $80 billion represents less than 0.1% of the $85 trillion global GDP.

• The World Economic Forum estimates that $44 trillion worth of economic value generation – over half of global GDP – depends moderately or highly on nature and its services.

• SwissRe found that 55% of global GDP depends on high-functioning biodiversity and ecosystem services. Their study revealed that one-fifth of countries worldwide are at risk of their ecosystems collapsing due to a decline in biodiversity and related services.

• The world has spent $13.8 trillion on Covid-19 recovery - 170 times as much as the $80 billion.

• As IPBES has concluded, the biodiversity crisis is as important as, and interrelated with, the climate crisis. Developed countries have pledged to provide $100 billion of annual climate funding to developing countries. While advances in renewable energy, energy conservation and electrification of transport and other areas have created opportunities to attract large amounts of private (and public), return-seeking capital to address climate change, similar markets for nature and the services it provides are not nearly as developed and there is little evidence these markets will develop at scale in the near term. Therefore, public funding in the form of grants from donor governments and domestic public resources in all countries will continue to be the largest and most critical way to generate increases in tangible financial resources (beyond subsidy, regulatory and policy reforms) for the 2020-2030 period of the GBF.

TARGET 21

Current target language:

Ensure equitable and effective participation in decision-making related to biodiversity by indigenous peoples and local communities, and respect their rights over lands, territories and resources, as well as by women and girls, and youth.

Campaign for Nature’s comments

• We are pleased by the inclusion of this target but believe that there are still important ways that it can be strengthened, including by ensuring the legal recognition of Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ tenure rights over all lands, waters, and other resources that they customarily use.

• As one example of how to strengthen and build upon this target, we would like to highlight the policy brief released by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment.