Photograph by: Enric Sala, National Geographic
December 19, 2022
In the early hours of December 19th, negotiators from the 196 parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity rallied to finalize an ambitious, global biodiversity framework inclusive of the 30x30 target and Indigenous Peoples’ rights and recognition, while addressing the cavernous funding gap for biodiversity protection and conservation.
November 15, 2022
With just one month to go until COP15 begins in Montreal, Canada, the press reported on Thursday, November 10 that there will not be heads of state at COP15.
This is a very concerning situation considering this critical conference seeks to agree on a pathway to curb the collapse of our entire planetary life support system - one million species are at risk of extinction and unless critical ecosystems are urgently protected we could face serious threats not just to the natural world, but to our climate, health, food and clean water supply.
November 7, 2022
On the first day of COP27, presidents and ministers from Palau, Nigeria, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States have today affirmed their support for the 30x30 target which commits countries to a global effort to achieve the protection of at least thirty percent of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030 to help curb biodiversity loss and climate change.
His Excellency President of Palau, Surangel S. Whipps Jr, today announced that Palau has joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, an intergovernmental group championing the protection of at least 30 percent of the world’s land and ocean by 2030.
Engineer H. Musa, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Environment and Climate Change from the Federal Republic of Nigeria announced that all 15 members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had agreed to support 30x30 as part of an "ECOWAS Appeal for an Ambitious Global Response to the Biodiversity Crisis''.
July 21, 2022
At the Africa Nature Finance Forum, held yesterday on the sidelines of the inaugural African Protected Areas Congress (APAC) 2022, government leaders and experts from across Africa called for an urgent increase in financing to protect the world’s biodiversity.
“By 2100, we may lose half of our bird and animal species, 20-30% of the productivity of African lakes and significant numbers of our plant species,” said Hon. Lee White, Minister of Water, Forests, the Sea, and Environment, Gabon. “In this context, without strong action, we will create instability and security issues all over the African continent. One of the key elements is the mobilization of predictable and sustainable resources. This is why we need to think about innovative and sustainable finance for nature.”
June 30, 2022
At the United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference taking place in Lisbon this week, the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People (HAC) announced that 100 countries have now committed to its core mission to protect at least 30% of the planet’s land and oceans by the end of the decade, also known as “30x30.” The science-driven, global goal to protect at least 30% of the planet by 2030 is one of the cornerstones of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework set to be agreed at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) now taking place in Montreal 5 to 17 December 2022.
Timor-Leste, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the United States of America, Estonia, Saint Lucia, Bahrain, Montenegro, and Burkina Faso are among the latest countries to sign on to the HAC, an intergovernmental group of over 100 countries co-chaired by Costa Rica and France and by the United Kingdom as the Ocean co-chair. Together, HAC member countries hold more than 58% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity and more than 38% of the world’s terrestrial carbon stocks. HAC member countries hold more than 54% of the biodiversity conservation priorities that exist within marine exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and more than 54% of the seafloor carbon within EEZs.
June 8, 2022
Traditional Owners in Australia are the creators of millennia worth of traditional ecological knowledge—an understanding of how to live amid changing environmental conditions. Seasonal calendars are one of the forms of this knowledge best known by non-Indigenous Australians. But as the climate changes, these calendars are being disrupted.
How? Take the example of wattle trees that flower at a specific time of year. That previously indicated the start of the fishing season for particular species. Climate change is causing these plants to flower later. In response, Traditional Owners on Yuku Baja Muliku (YBM) Country near Cooktown are having to adapt their calendars and make new links.
June 1, 2022
Ramping up the protection of land within the next decade could make a significant dent in biodiversity and climate change efforts that would get countries closer to their conservation goals, according to new research.
If countries succeed in protecting 30% of global land area by 2030, it could benefit about 1,000 vertebrate species whose habitats currently lack any form of protection, according to a study published Wednesday in Science Advances.
About half of the species that would benefit from expanding protected areas worldwide are classified as critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or near-threatened, the scientists said.
What is being dubbed by scientists as the "30 by 30" target could also spare about 11 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year in avoided carbon emissions or carbon sequestration, the paper states.
Researchers from Princeton University and the National University of Singapore compared models that maximize different aspects of conservation. They considered only natural areas and excluding croplands and urban areas, and found that additional benefits could result for biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and nutrient-regulation if protected area coverage were increased to 30% of the terrestrial area within 238 countries worldwide.
June 1, 2022
Action to drive the recovery of the global economy and bolster food security worldwide by protecting and restoring nature will be set out today by government ministers, CEOs and civil society leaders at a major multinational summit being held today (Wednesday 1 June).
‘Financing the Transition to a Nature Positive Future’ will be held in association with Stockholm +50, a major environmental meeting led by the United Nations between 2-3 June. The event is being convened by the UK Government and supported by the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature (LPN).
Over half of GDP - $44 trillion - relies on the services that nature provides or natural capital - from the bees that pollinate the plants we eat, to the trees that purify our air and the forests and oceans that absorb carbon emissions. However, we are spending our natural capital much faster than it is being replenished.
April 14, 2022
At the Our Ocean Conference in Palau today, the US announced it officially joined the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People, a group of more than 90 countries encouraging the adoption of the global goal to protect and conserve at least 30% of the planet— land and sea — by 2030, commonly referred to as “30x30.”
Scientists have issued repeated warnings that nature is in a state of crisis, threatened by habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation, invasive species, and climate change. The ongoing and rapid loss of natural areas across the world poses a grave threat to the health and security of all living things. However, overwhelming scientific evidence shows that conserving at least 30% of our global land and ocean can not only curb biodiversity loss and prevent extinctions but also store carbon, help prevent future pandemics, and bolster economic growth.
The Biden administration has already pledged to conserve 30% of the United States’ land and sea; it is now pushing for the goal to be adopted at the global scale. The announcement follows the Biden administration’s launch yesterday of a $1 billion program—called the America the Beautiful Challenge—to advance its national 30x30 goal.
March 23, 2020
Coastal community mayors and local government leaders from 8 countries have issued a statement calling for both the protection and responsible use of coastal waters, which they say benefit the world’s coastal habitats and many of the 500 million people worldwide who depend on fisheries for food and income.
The statement asserts that by “combining local efforts to protect critical biodiversity with effective co-management for coastal fisheries, we can ensure food security, support the productive economy, safeguard livelihoods, and contribute to achieving national and global biodiversity targets including 30x30.”
The Coastal 500 group consists of over 110 mayors and other city-level leaders from the countries of Brazil, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Mozambique, Palau, and the Philippines.
March 18, 2022
Once swathed in green, only three per cent of the Philippines remains covered with pristine forests. Losing these ecosystems — not to mention the impacts of overfishing, climate change and extreme weather events — has taken a tragic toll on the country’s rich biodiversity and its people.
While the Philippines remains well-stocked with unique fauna and flora and is recognised as one of the world’s 17 mega biodiverse countries, the latest science and fieldwork make it clear that this precious biodiversity is under threat. Especially at risk are the indigenous people and local communities, who battle to protect it.
We are hopeful that a new global target to protect 30 per cent of the world’s land and ocean by 2030 (30×30 goal) is included in a new global strategy to safeguard biodiversity that is expected to be approved in Kunming, China, later this year.
March 10, 2022
Led by former US Senator Russ Feingold and comprised of eight former Heads of State, two former Prime Ministers, six former Ministers, and four environmental and Indigenous and local experts, the Campaign for Nature’s Global Steering Committee (GSC) has released a joint statement asserting that the success of an upcoming global biodiversity agreement hinges on the adoption of the global, science-backed 30x30 target.
The statement urged governments that have not yet endorsed the global 30x30 goal to join the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People (HAC), a group of countries championing the target on a global scale. Many GSC members hail from countries that have not yet signed on in support of the HAC including the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Thailand, and Iceland. Currently, HAC members include over 85 countries in Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Caribbean, Asia, and beyond.
In the statement, the GSC welcomed the endorsement of the 30x30 goal in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. The UN study asserted that the protection of 30-50% of the world’s land and ocean is required for maintaining the resilience of biodiversity and ecosystem services at a global scale.
March 1, 2022
Leading environment groups have agreed that the US, the countries of the European Union, the UK, Japan, Canada and other wealthy countries should support a target of at least $60 billion annually of international finance for biodiversity in developing countries. To stop biodiversity loss and achieve a nature-positive economy, this financing effort must be part of a broader and holistic package to close the biodiversity finance gap, including increased domestic and private finance for biodiversity and the elimination of public and private investments that are harmful to biodiversity.
The recommended $60 billion figure was released in advance of a major round of United Nations biodiversity negotiations set to take place in Geneva, Switzerland this month—an important moment on the road to the final biodiversity summit in Kunming, China later this year.
January 11, 2022
As the role played by Indigenous Peoples and local communities in safeguarding the planet gains long-due recognition by global climate and conservation initiatives, their representatives and allies have launched a new mechanism to finance locally-led efforts with full respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
The Community Land Rights and Conservation Finance Initiative (CLARIFI), led by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) and Campaign for Nature (C4N), will mobilize and strategically deploy public and private funds to scale up the legal recognition of Indigenous Peoples’, Afro-descendant Peoples’, and local communities’ rights, as well as their efforts to strengthen their conservation of natural resources, traditional livelihoods, and gender justice.
About 1.8 billion Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities claim, inhabit and steward the earth’s most critical ecosystems, including its forests. Securing their rights and following their guidance is a powerful bottom-up opportunity to address the catastrophic threats facing the planet. For example, RRI estimates that 33% of the Earth’s tropical forest carbon is at risk without recognizing community rights to their lands. Securing these rights will avoid 1.1 to 7.4 GtC02e of emissions.
December 31, 2021
It is no secret that the diversity of life around us is plummeting. Scientists declared more than 100 species to be extinct in 2020 alone. That’s bad news not only for the creatures themselves but for those of us (that would be all of us) who rely on them for food, to produce oxygen, to hold soil in place, to cleanse water, to beautify our world and so much more. According to the World Economic Forum, nature plays a key role in generating more than half of global GDP.
So what can we do to reduce future harm? One big thing is to identify emerging threats and opportunities to protect biodiversity and proactively shape policies and actions to prevent harm early on. To this end, a group of scientists and conservation practitioners led by William Sutherland, a professor of conservation biology at the University of Cambridge, create and publish a “horizon scan” of global trends with impacts for biodiversity each year. Read on for this year’s top picks.
