- The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) which aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, was adopted in December 2022 at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
- It features 23 targets to be met by 2030 and four global goals to preserve biodiversity for current and future generations.
- Although not binding, the landmark agreement is anticipated to have a significant impact on nations as they work to achieve their goals by creating new plans and regulations to combat climate change by tackling biodiversity loss.
What are the Key Targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)?
- 30×30 Deal:
- Restore 30% of degraded ecosystems globally (on land and sea) by 2030
- Conserve and manage 30% of areas (terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine) by 2030
- Stop the extinction of known species, and by 2050 reduce tenfold the extinction risk and rate of all species (including unknown)
- Reduce risk from pesticides by at least 50% by 2030
- Reduce nutrients lost to the environment by at least 50% by 2030
- Reduce pollution risks and negative impacts of pollution from all sources by 2030 to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity and ecosystem functions
- Reduce global footprint of consumption by 2030, including through significantly reducing overconsumption and waste generation and halving food waste
- Sustainably manage areas under agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry and substantially increase agroecology and other biodiversity-friendly practices
- Tackle climate change through nature-based solutions
- Reduce the rate of introduction and establishment of invasive alien species by at least 50% by 2030
- Secure the safe, legal, and sustainable use and trade of wild species by 2030
- Green up urban spaces
What are the Other Major Outcomes of COP15?
- Money for Nature:
- Signatories aim to ensure USD200 billion per year is channelled to conservation initiatives, from public and private sources.
- Wealthier countries should contribute at least USD 20 billion of this every year by 2025, and at least USD30 billion a year by 2030.
- Big Companies Report Impacts on Biodiversity:
- Companies should analyze and report how their operations are affected by biodiversity issues.
- The parties agreed to large companies and financial institutions being subject to “requirements” to make disclosures regarding their operations, supply chains, and portfolios.
- Harmful Subsidies:
- Countries committed to identifying subsidies that deplete biodiversity by 2025, and then eliminating, phasing out, or reforming them.
- They agreed to slash those incentives by at least USD 500 billion a year by 2030 and increase incentives that are positive for conservation.
- Monitoring and reporting progress:
- All the agreed aims will be supported by processes to monitor progress in the future, in a bid to prevent this agreement from meeting the same fate as similar targets that were agreed in Aichi, Japan, in 2010, and never met.
- National action plans will be set and reviewed, following a similar format used for greenhouse gas emissions under U.N.-led efforts to curb climate change. Some observers objected to the lack of a deadline for countries to submit these plans.
How did India present its demands at the conference?
- India called for an urgent need to create a new and dedicated fund to help developing countries successfully implement a post-2020 global framework to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
- So far, the Global Environment Facility which caters to multiple conventions, including the UNFCCC and UN Convention to Combat Desertification, remains the only source of funding for biodiversity conservation.
- India also said that the conservation of biodiversity must also be based on ‘Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities’ (CBDR) as climate change also impacts nature.
- According to India, developing countries bear most of the burden of implementing the targets for conserving biodiversity and, therefore, require adequate funding and technology transfer.
What is the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)?
- CBD is a legally binding treaty to conserve biodiversity that has been in force since 1993 and has been ratified by 196 nations.
- It sets out guidelines for countries to protect biodiversity, ensure sustainable use, and promote fair and equitable benefit sharing.
- It aims to achieve a historic deal to halt and reverse biodiversity loss on par with the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.
- The CBD Secretariat is based in Montreal, Canada.
- The Parties (Countries) under CBD, meet at regular intervals and these meetings are called Conference of Parties (COP).
- In 2000, a supplementary agreement to the Convention known as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety was adopted. It came into force on 11th September 2003.
- The Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology.
- The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) was adopted in 2010 in Nagoya, Japan at COP10. It entered into force on 12th October 2014.
- It not only applies to genetic resources that are covered by the CBD, and to the benefits arising from their utilization but also covers traditional knowledge (TK) associated with genetic resources that are covered by the CBD and the benefits arising from its utilization.
- The COP-10 also adopted a ten-year framework for action by all countries to save biodiversity. Officially known as the “Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020”, it provided a set of 20 ambitious yet achievable targets collectively known as the Aichi Targets for biodiversity.
- India enacted the Biological Diversity Act in 2002 to give effect to the provisions of the CBD.
