This is the finding of the progress report on the 2030 biodiversity targets for CBD COP17, the United Nations biodiversity summit that begins on 19 October. Nature conservation specialist Jelle Behagel places this preliminary conclusion in the context of the summit's wider agenda.
In 2022, at the 15th CBD COP, the conference agreed on a set of 23 biodiversity targets to be achieved by 2030: the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Now, four years later, it is time to take stock. 'The first version of the progress report shows that, although we are making progress globally, we will not meet the biodiversity targets by 2030,' says Jelle Behagel, associate professor in the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group. He is one of the scientists travelling on behalf of Wageningen University & Research to the summit in Armenia, which will begin on 19 October.
What is on the agenda at COP17?
'Internationally, biodiversity is receiving more attention than ever, but efforts still do not match the scale of the challenge,' says Behagel. 'Of the 23 biodiversity targets in the GBF, only target 8 is seeing meaningful action. This target aims to minimise the impact of climate change on biodiversity.'
What does Behagel think UN member states will discuss at the 17th biodiversity summit in light of this report? 'Much needs to happen to bring the other biodiversity targets within reach too. Key issues will be how biodiversity protection is funded and how the nature-friendly traditions of local and Indigenous communities can be maintained. Cooperation with other UN summits is also on the agenda.'
Funding for biodiversity and protected areas
'Most large ecosystems, which are often also more intact, are in the Global South, where nature is also at its most diverse,' explains Behagel. 'Does that also mean those countries should bear the cost of protecting that nature? Biodiversity conservation is in everyone's interest.' When it comes to funding nature conservation, delegates from the Global South often point to a 1992 agreement. 'That was when the UN agreed to create new financial instruments - funds - to support countries in the Global South. Some instruments have been added since then, but the countries say they are inadequate or too cumbersome to use.'
Moreover, national parks and protected areas alone will not be enough if the UN is to meet the GBF's targets by 2030, Behagel says. 'That is why other effective conservation methods, such as nature-friendly farming or traditional land use, are also receiving increasing attention. Local and Indigenous communities were already recognised for their important contributions to nature conservation at COP15 and COP16. Now, two years later, the question is precisely which communities the UN means and how it can help protect their knowledge and traditions.'
Halting biodiversity loss requires more than new techniques, nature restoration or more sustainable forms of production. The structures and beliefs that shape how we interact with nature must also change. Wageningen University & Research explores many different perspectives on these kinds of system-wide transformations. When it comes to biodiversity loss, we also want to discover how society can come together to address the underlying causes.
