UN publishes Paris style biodiversity plan

🔎 What’s going on?

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has published the first draft of a Paris agreement-style global biodiversity plan. 

🌳 So let’s break it down...

The plan sets out new targets for 2030 and 2050 that will be negotiated by world leaders at the COP15 Biodiversity Summit in Kunming, China in October this year. The plan has four long-term goals for 2050 and 21 action targets for 2030 based on the latest science. 

Here are some of the notable action targets:

1. Ensure at least 30% of land and sea areas are protected globally, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity
2. Ensure at least 20% of freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems (such as tundra, tropical rainforest, grassland, deserts) are restored, focusing on priority ecosystems
3. Reduce pollution from all sources that are harmful to biodiversity, ecosystems, and human health, such as nutrient runoff by at least half, pesticides use by at least two thirds and eliminate the discharge of plastic waste
4. Minimise the impact of climate change by introducing nature-based solutions where at least 10 GtCO₂e is reduced per year and it doesn’t have any negative impacts on biodiversity (such as restoring peatlands and adopting regenerative agriculture)
5. Ensure all areas under agriculture, aquaculture, and forestry are managed sustainably increasing their resilience
6. All businesses (public and private, large, medium and small) assess and report on their dependencies and impacts on biodiversity, from local to global; reduce negative impact by at least half; and reduce biodiversity-related risks to businesses by moving towards fully sustainable extraction and production practices, sourcing and supply chains. 
7. Redirect, repurpose, reform, or eliminate incentives that are harmful to biodiversity, in a just and equitable way, reducing them by at least US$ 500 billion per year, including subsidies
8. A $US 200 billion increase in international financial flows from all sources to developing countries.

Some of these targets represent a significant shift, particularly in global agriculture and food production. These targets must now be negotiated and once agreed will be adopted by the 196 countries party to the CBD.

❓ Why should I care?

Biodiversity and the benefits it provides are fundamental to human well-being and a healthy planet. Scientists have warned that we are now causing the sixth mass extinction in our Planet’s history. According to the UN’s assessment, one million animal and plant species are currently at risk of extinction due to human activities. 

The five direct drivers of biodiversity loss are changes in land and sea use (due to agriculture), direct exploitation of organisms (i.e. fishing), climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species (e.g. Zebra mussels and Green crab).   

🚦 Where do we need to be?

We need a clear and measurable goal for nature, similar to what we have for climate (e.g. limit global warming to well below 2°C). 

The current feedback from non-profits is that the draft plan could be difficult to implement across governments and industries. This is because the individual targets could encourage countries to ‘cherry pick’ convenient targets that suit them and ignore the rest. 

Both governments and industries may also find that the targets are difficult to measure, especially since some are unrealistic. It’s difficult enough to measure carbon at country, company, and product levels, measuring biodiversity is even more difficult without global standards and recognised measurement metrics and targets. 

Given how difficult it is to measure biodiversity, it’s really important that governments set tangible national targets and create supportive regulatory frameworks to incentivise the private sector and banks to implement the targets.

👤  What can I do about it?

As an individual, one of the best things you can do is to buy products that are made with recycled materials. Protect local habitats and welcome wildlife through birdhouses, rewilding, and of course planting local plants. 

As a business, start assessing your company’s biodiversity risk by using the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT). Then use the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership’s (CISL) framework for Biodiversity Impact Metric to measure your business’s impact on biodiversity. Set science-based targets.  

Related: Dendra systems raises $10 million funding

Photo credit: Photo by Ulrike Langner on Unsplash