Official Statement

London, United Kingdom - One year ago the world agreed to a landmark plan – the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) – to halt and reverse global biodiversity loss by 2030. The plan was headlined by the science-based target to protect or conserve at least 30 percent of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030 (30x30), marking the most ambitious global nature conservation strategy ever established. The plan also stressed the critical role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities as stewards of nature and set finance targets to close the biodiversity finance gap, including a near term target to increase international biodiversity finance to at least $20 billion per year by 2025.

Looking back over the past 12 months, some countries have taken bold actions and made discrete instances of progress. Many new institutions, systems, coalitions and plans have been developed that will help position the framework for success. 

Nature was given prominence at COP28. The final agreement recognized the importance of conserving, protecting and restoring nature and ecosystems – including halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030 – as an essential pathway to address the climate crisis. It specifically encouraged cooperation between the climate and biodiversity conventions and cited the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Furthermore a “Joint Statement on Climate, Nature and People'' was launched by the UAE UNFCCC COP28 Presidency and the People’s Republic of China Convention on Biological Diversity Presidency seeking to align national climate and biodiversity plans and strategies.

Overall, however, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity have not done enough yet nor have shown that they are treating the global biodiversity crisis as the priority that scientists say it must be. Moving forward, all countries will have to act with far greater urgency and ambition in order to put the world on a trajectory to achieve 30x30, better support the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and successfully implement the overall framework. To effectively reach all of the KM-GBF’s targets, the full delivery of the framework’s finance targets is essential. One year into the KM-GBF’s implementation, progress on finance is especially lagging. Action to urgently increase finance from developed to developing countries by 2025, as promised in the KM-GBF, will be the most important thing to watch for in 2024 

The following are three overarching takeaways from the past year and a look ahead to the most pressing issues of 2024.

Takeaway #1: Mechanisms and institutions were put in place at the global level that can serve as the foundation for implementing the KM-GBF. This includes the following:

  • The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund was established. 

    In August, the Global Environment Facility established a new fund to support implementation of the KM-GBF. The establishment of a new fund was a prominent issue discussed in the biodiversity negotiations last December and a key priority for  countries in the Global South. The GEF’s work to finalize and launch the fund in less than one year following COP15 was a meaningful accomplishment and sets the stage for greater financing commitments. The new fund complements numerous other funding efforts and finance mechanisms that were established to help achieve the area based conservation targets of the KM-GBF, including the Protecting Our Planet Challenge, Enduring Earth, and the Legacy Landscapes Fund.

  • The newly established Global Biodiversity Framework Fund set a goal of making 20 percent of the fund directly accessible to Indigenous Peoples and local communities. This aspirational goal is a welcomed acknowledgement of the need to increase direct funding to Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and the same level of ambition should be made regarding the achievement and delivery of the finance targets in the KM-GBF, including the commitment to increase international biodiversity finance to at least $20 billion per year by 2025. Most importantly, these goals need to be translated into action by governments and philanthropies. A new Indigenous-led funding mechanism CLARIFI was established to ramp up funding directly to Indigenous peoples and local communities. It joins the Tenure Facility and national and regional funds in increasing the opportunities and financial infrastructure to directly support Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

  • For the first time, implementation of a protected area target is being led globally by a coalition of governments. 

    The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People (HAC) - an intergovernmental coalition of 118 countries (importantly now including China which joined the Coalition at COP28) - came together to advocate for the 30x30 target during the last round of Convention on Biological Diversity negotiations. Following the adoption of the 30x30 target last December, the HAC announced it would stay together to help lead implementation of 30x30, complementing other important efforts also established in 2023, like the NBSAP Accelerator (an entity established to help governments develop their national biodiversity strategies). Following the establishment of the previous protected area target in 2010, implementation efforts were left to disparate national and regional strategies. The HAC’s role in 30x30 implementation has the opportunity to keep a global spotlight on 30x30 and keep biodiversity high on the agenda for world leaders, which will be essential for success. 

  • An Agreement was reached regarding Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction – an essential step towards achieving 30x30 in the ocean. 

    The Agreement was adopted in June 2023, paving the way for an international legally binding instrument that could be used to establish marine protected areas in the High Seas, a large swath of the global ocean beyond the jurisdiction of all countries. Protecting biologically significant areas in the High Seas will be necessary in order to achieve at least 30 percent protections for the ocean by 2030. Countries must now move to ratify the treaty as soon as possible to ensure that this essential tool for marine conservation can be put to use.

  • Australia and Canada are raising the profile of Nature on the global stage. Canada has launched the Nature Champions Network and Australia has announced the Nature Positive Summit in October 2024 both of which will bring political leadership to achieving the Biodiversity goals and targets.

Takeaway #2: Countries around the world have reiterated that 30x30 is a priority, with some designating new protected and conserved areas and launching robust planning processes.

  • Some countries and regions have kicked off planning processes that - if prioritized and followed through on - have the potential to deliver ambitious outcomes for 30x30.
    Notably, Pacific Leaders launched the Unlocking Blue Pacific Prosperity initiative, which intends to protect 30 percent of the Blue Pacific Continent which would create the largest conservation area in the world; the 15 countries of the Economic Community of West African States have agreed to start a regional planning process to develop their joint contribution towards 30x30; and many countries around the world have made progress developing their own ambitious 30x30 plans, including Panama, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, and Canada, whose planning has also empowered the leadership and contributions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Subnational governments including California and Quebec have also made major 30x30 conservation commitments.

Takeaway #3: Despite increased attention on biodiversity from governments and the public, the pace of progress is still not fast enough on terrestrial and marine conservation, Indigenous rights and governance, and nature finance.

  • Overall the current pace of increasing protected and conserved areas is too slow and must dramatically change soon in order to reach 30x30. 

    UNEP-WCMC serves as the official scorekeeper of the world’s efforts to meet the 30x30 target. One year ago, just before the 30x30 target was agreed to at COP15 in Montreal, UNEP-WCMC reported in December 2022 that the world had protected 16.98 percent of the planet’s land and 8.26 percent of the ocean. In December 2023 UNEP-WCMC reported that those figures had only grown to 17.22 percent on land and 8.28 percent in the ocean (however some data on new announcements is still under review and may increase the total). COP16 in 2024 will serve as an important milestone for gauging whether governments have sufficiently increased efforts to increase protections and to ensure better conservation outcomes of existing protected and conserved areas.

    It is critical to note that achieving the 30x30 target is more than just reaching a number. Success will also require ensuring that the right places are protected and that they are effectively managed, as indicated in the target. Current reporting doesn’t indicate management effectiveness, though it is widely understood that many terrestrial and marine protected areas around the world must be better managed in order for their conservation objectives to be achieved. 

  • Governments have yet to demonstrate how they will support Indigenous governance as a third pathway to achieving 30x30. 

    The 30x30 target identified three ways that governments could contribute to achieving 30x30, including 1) designating protected areas, 2) designating other effective area-based conservation measures, and 3) recognizing Indigenous and traditional territories. Over the last year, many governments have not made sufficient progress demonstrating how they intend to use and support this third pathway towards achieving 30x30 (however there have been some bright spots including Brazil and Canada). As governments continue their processes to develop comprehensive 30x30 plans, they must increase their engagement with Indigenous communities and better ensure that the third pathway is an essential component of their resulting strategies.

  • Minimal progress was made on new international biodiversity financing commitments. 

    Ultimately the success of the KM-GBF will depend on the successful delivery of the agreement's finance commitments. The first test for countries will be the target to increase international biodiversity finance to at least $20 billion per year to developing countries by 2025, which is roughly double current levels. With one year down and just one year left until 2025, the world is not on pace to reach the $20 billion target. According to the OECD, international biodiversity finance grew from $10.4 billion in 2020 to $11.1 billion in 2021 and current publicly announced commitments of international biodiversity finance fall far short of making up the difference. 

  • There is still a significant lack of direct funding for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. 

    In recent years, governments, philanthropies, and non-governmental organizations have started to better recognize the essential role that Indigenous Peoples play in safeguarding our natural world and have started to increase financial pledges to better support their efforts. Unfortunately, despite some significant pledges like the $1.7 billion commitment made at COP26 in Glasgow to support the land and forest guardianship of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, direct funding of Indigenous Peoples has stayed woefully inadequate. As just one example, a recent report showed that the first two years of efforts to follow through on the $1.7 billion pledge have only made 2.1 percent of the funding directly available to Indigenous Peoples and local communities. 


Key issues to look for in 2024: With the first target of the KM-GBF just one year away – the commitment to increase international finance to at least $20B/year by 2025 – next year will be a make or break year for nature finance and the overall biodiversity agreement. 

  • Commitment to and delivery of international finance. 

    A group of Global South countries launched a Ministerial Alliance for Nature Finance in December to champion the importance of the $20 billion target, hold countries accountable to their promises on nature finance, and demonstrate the important role that international finance can play in immediately supporting key projects and catalyzing additional resources to support implementation. This new Alliance reflects increasing calls for developed countries to place greater urgency and attention on this issue of nature finance, with the following recent examples: a declaration from the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, an open letter to world leaders from nearly two dozen former heads of state, ministers, and diplomats, and letters to G7 and G20 leaders from a group of leading international organizations urging the countries to develop roadmaps for achieving the $20 billion commitment and for increasing financing made directly available to Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The success of the KM-GBF hinges on delivery of its finance targets, and successfully reaching the fastest approaching of those targets – the $20 billion commitment – requires donors to ramp up action in 2024.

  • The pace and quality of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPS). 

    A handful of countries have published their NBSAPS this year, but with only 6 years remaining until the KM-GBF Targets are meant to be achieved, it is imperative that nations complete high quality, comprehensive and inclusive national biodiversity strategies quickly.  These plans will guide implementation of the framework domestically.  A comprehensive review of the status and quality of the NBSAPS at COP16 will provide a solid indicator of the likelihood of meeting the KM-GBF targets.

The Campaign for Nature has issued the following statement:

Director of Campaign for Nature, Brian O’Donnell said: 

“Looking at the progress made in the year since the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was agreed to, we are heartened to see new coalitions, support mechanisms and institutions established that can help implement the framework.  We are also grateful to countries that have made quick advancements in new protected and conserved areas and those that are already well underway in developing their national biodiversity strategies. There are, however, significant areas of concern, particularly the lack of major new international finance, the relatively slow pace of marine and terrestrial conservation designations, and lagging efforts by many countries and donors to fully engage and support Indigenous peoples and local communities.”

The crisis facing nature is unprecedented in human history, our efforts to resolve the crisis must also be unprecedented in scale and urgency.  We aren’t there yet.  We encourage governments to increase the pace, finance and priority of nature conservation, there should be no greater government priority than a liveable planet.”

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Katy Roxburgh - Director of Communications

katy@campaignfornature.com

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