Five Things We’re Watching For With Just Two Months Before Nations Finalize a Global Pact For Nature

Photo credit: FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto

When the Wyss Campaign for Nature launched back in October 2018, we expected a two-year race towards the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15), which had been scheduled for 2020 in Kunming, China. The universe, however, had a very different plan! Now, nearly four years since Hansörg Wyss first committed $1 billion to help governments, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities protect at least 30 percent of the planet’s surface by 2030 (30x30) — and one year since he upped his commitment to $1.5 billion — we are nearing a critical moment in the Campaign for Nature. In early-December, nations will be meeting at CBD COP15 in Montreal to finalize a plan to slow the loss of nature, safeguard biodiversity, and formalize a global 30x30 goal.

The goal for biodiversity negotiators between now and December is to find consensus on a global plan and a set of actionable targets that meet the scale of the crisis facing nature. Unfortunately, to this point, the COVID-delayed negotiations have proceeded at a frustratingly slow pace — and the draft nature accords are currently an “unreadable jumble of unagreed-upon text.” 

There are, however, reasons for optimism. Over 100 nations have joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People (HAC) and are formally supporting a global target to protect at least 30 percent of the planet’s lands and ocean by the end of this decade. And policy leaders, civil society, philanthropy, and decision-makers are pressing for ambition and building towards a “Paris moment for nature” this year.

As we count the weeks until CBD COP15 opens, the Wyss Campaign for Nature is seeking answers to five questions that will determine whether the global biodiversity meetings in Montreal are an international success story or a global leadership failure.

WILL HEADS OF STATE PROVIDE MUCH-NEEDED LEADERSHIP DURING CBD COP15? 

The loss of biodiversity is among the biggest threats to global prosperity and security. This is not a second or third tier issue and it should not be treated as such. We need heads of state to show up in Montreal, meet the scale of the threat, and hash out an ambitious plan that reverses the loss of biodiversity before the end of this decade, including adopting 30x30 and committing to its implementation by adequately funding it. 

WILL NATIONS MAKE MEANINGFUL FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS TO BIODIVERSITY?

A majority of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity have coalesced around a target to protect at least 30 percent of the planet’s surface by 2030 as a central pillar of the nature pact being finalized at CBD COP15. Formalizing the 30x30 target is a critically important outcome, but its effective implementation is only possible if wealthy nations make meaningful and sustained investments into nature conservation. The world currently spends $24 billion on protected area conservation; protecting 30x30 is going to require an annual investment of $140 billion by 2030. This increased investment represents only 0.16% of global GDP and would amount to less than one-quarter of the amount governments spend annually on subsidies to nature-destroying activities like mining, oil and gas development, and industrial-scale fishing operations.

WILL BIODIVERSITY NEGOTIATORS RECOGNIZE INDIGENOUS RIGHTS AND LEADERSHIP?

Globally, Indigenous communities — who make up approximately five percent of the world’s total population — manage or hold tenure over lands that contain 80 percent of the Earth’s remaining plant and animal diversity. Indigenous Peoples and local communities must play a critical leadership role in developing strategies for conserving lands, waters, and wildlife. The nature pact coming out of CBD COP 15 must support Indigenous and local community-led efforts to safeguard biodiversity, it must fund those efforts, and it must develop systems to track and recognize the contributions these communities are making to meet and surpass the 30x30 goal.

WILL THE MEDIA ACCURATELY PORTRAY THE URGENCY OF NEGOTIATIONS?

For too long, the media has failed to convey the urgency of the crisis facing biodiversity. Decision-makers and policy-leaders need to be put under the microscope in Montreal so that they understand inaction is not an option. Under the status quo, a million species are at risk of extinction, many within decades. The basic building blocks of the global economy — everything from the provisioning of freshwater, to natural pollination for agriculture, to healthy marine fish stocks — are at risk. Yet, the media has ignored the loss of nature, too frequently treating it as a secondary issue. 

WILL NATIONS MAKE AN ACTION PLAN FOR 30X30 IMPLEMENTATION?

The global community has seven years to quickly accelerate the pace and scale of conservation if we stand a chance at meeting the 30x30 goal. According to the World Database on Protected Areas, about 17 percent of the planet’s land area and roughly eight percent of its ocean area are currently protected. Nearly doubling terrestrial protections and more than tripling ocean protections is going to require every country on Earth to have an actionable implementation plan to create and sustainably manage protected areas. 

We remain optimistic that nations will meet the scale of the challenges facing biodiversity. And the Wyss Campaign for Nature stands ready to sustain and expand our support for the implementation of 30x30 goals, working alongside governments, civil society, Indigenous People and local communities, and others to protect far more of our shared planet.