The United Nations' biodiversity conference just reached a major conservation deal

April Siese

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Monday December 19, 2022 · 2:48 PM PST

2022/12/19 · 14:48

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, David Ainsworth (C-L), Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu (C-R), Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema (2nd R) and Inger Andersen Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (R) during a plenary meeting during the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Quebec, on December 19, 2022. (Photo by Lars Hagberg / AFP) (Photo by LARS HAGBERG/AFP via Getty Images) — The 30x30 provision in the agreement would ensure 30% of the planet's land and oceans are protected by 2030.

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The United Nations’ biodiversity conference known as COP15 concluded early Monday with an agreement meant to address extinction risks. Under the deal, known as the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework, nearly 200 countries vowed to “halt and reverse biodiversity loss” by 2030. The most prominent goal with a 2030 deadline, known as 30x30, is the pledge to protect 30% of all land and sea. Just 17% of the planet’s land and 8% of its oceans currently fall under protections.

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the U.N. Environment Programme Inger Anderson praised the landmark agreement. “For far too long humanity has paved over, fragmented, over-extracted and destroyed the natural world on which we all depend,” Anderson said in a statement. “Now is our chance to shore up and strengthen the web of life, so it can carry the full weight of generations to come. Actions that we take for nature are actions to reduce poverty; they are actions to achieve the sustainable development goals; they are actions to improve human health.”

The U.N itself has made it clear that “governments alone cannot solve the climate and biodiversity crisis,” meaning much more work must be done in order to achieve COP15’s goals and ensure that further climate goals, such as reaching net-zero by 2050, are reachable.

UN Biodiversity #COP15 achieved a "Paris moment" for the world's animal and plant life.

The agreement clinched today protects biodiversity and bolsters efforts to safeguard the world’s climate.

But governments alone cannot solve the climate and biodiversity crisis.
— UN Climate Change (@UNFCCC) December 19, 2022

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It took a lot for participating countries to reach this point. The Guardian notes that it’s been 12 years since prior agreements were reached and it took four years of negotiations to reach this current point with the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework. Within this latest framework, global north countries agreed to contribute a total of $30 billion annually by 2030 for conservation that would go to poorer countries. Such contributions are ambitious and, as the New York Times notes, unfortunately not legally binding.

The topic of who pays for what when it comes to climate concerns also factored heavily into the U.N.’s prior conference COP27 in Egypt. Loss and damages ultimately were included in the agreement adopted last month, with a pledge to establish a fund supporting countries who generate the fewest emissions but frequently find themselves bearing the burden of climate-worsened disasters.

For the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework, the U.N. requests its Executive Secretary “to conduct a strategic review and analysis of the programs [in the agreement].” Accountability in the form of analysis and draft updates will be frequent leading into COP16 next year.

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The United Nations' biodiversity conference just reached a major conservation deal

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