context: For the first time, China has successfully hosted a major UN environmental conference. The inclusion of the 30 percent protection target for 2030 is a win and the result of strong campaigning from NGOs and blocs like the High Ambition Coalition. However, some NGOs like Greenpeace have expressed disappointment at the lack of ambition in the rest of the Framework, saying that it represents a compromise.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, containing the target of protecting 30 percent of all land, inland water bodies and coastal seas by 2030, was adopted by all 196 parties present at COP15 in Montreal, chaired by China, on 19 Dec 2022.
The Framework includes
- 23 environmental targets to be delivered by 2030
- four less-specific goals to be met by 2050
It is not legally binding.
A number of other decisions were passed at the COP, including on
- DSI (digital sequence information)
- resource mobilisation and tech cooperation
- reporting and review mechanisms
The decisions made at COP15 will guide humanity’s collective efforts, jointly halt and reverse global biodiversity decline, and set biodiversity on a path to recovery for the benefit of all people, commented Minister for Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu 黄润秋, who chaired COP15.
The Framework also includes a vision of peaceful coexistence with nature for 2050, highlights Huang. This follows the first leg of the conference, held in Kunming in Oct 2021, where the Kunming Declaration was adopted, aiming to formulate, pass and implement an effective post-2020 global biodiversity framework.