Image: © doidam10/Stock.adobe.com
There is also a commitment to conserve 30pc of the planet by 2030 and establish a new fund to help hit global targets.
A “historic” deal has been reached at the UN’s COP15 biodiversity conference to help protect and manage Earth’s vulnerable ecosystems.
The EU and 195 countries agreed on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework yesterday (19 December). This new agreement sets out various targets to protect nature and support a global green economy.
One of the biggest goals is to restore 30pc of Earth’s degraded ecosystems, on land and sea, by 2030. The agreement also aims to conserve and manage 30pc of the planet by the end of the decade, which includes terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine locations.
The framework aims to increase the level of finances supporting biodiversity efforts to at least $200bn a year by 2030. It also aims to create incentives for domestic and international sources of finance, including from business investment.
There is a commitment to identify subsidies that are harmful to biodiversity by 2025 and eliminate a total of $500bn of these subsidies per year by 2030.
The agreement will support the establishment of a Global Biodiversity Framework Fund to support the measures and targets listed in the new deal.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement provides a “good foundation for global action on biodiversity” and complements the Paris Climate Agreement.
“Now the world has a double track of action for a sustainable global economy by 2050,” von der Leyen said. “Indeed, more than half of global GDP depends on ecosystem services.”
She also said it is “very positive” that there are measurable global targets, along with a mechanism to finance their implementation.
I welcome the historic outcome of #COP15.
The world has agreed on unprecedented and measurable nature protection and restoration goals and on a Global Biodiversity Fund.And investing into nature also means fighting climate change.
The EU will stay the course.#NextGenerationEU
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 19, 2022
The framework has other targets that are a bit harder to measure, such as reducing the global footprint of consumption by 2030 and a commitment to green up urban areas. It also aims to reduce 10-fold the extinction risk and rate of all species by 2050.
Recent research has suggested the Earth has entered its sixth mass extinction event, with predictions that more than a quarter of the world’s animals and plants could go extinct by the end of the century.
EU commissioner for the environment, oceans and fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius said the deal is “historic” for the future of the planet and opens the “window of opportunity to secure a healthy future on Earth”.
“This deal does the job on all fronts,” Sinkevičius added. “It reduces risks from pollution, targets subsidies harmful to biodiversity, mobilises funds and brings businesses on board by ensuring they take responsibility.
“Today’s deal is an all-round win and I am proud we made it. The real work starts now to turn the words on paper into real action around the world.”
10 things you need to know direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of essential sci-tech news.
