Countries are unlikely to meet the United Nations’ 30 by 30 biodiversity target, according to new research highlighting significant gaps in progress toward protecting land and sea. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed in late 2022, committed nearly 200 nations to safeguard at least 30% of the planet’s ecosystems by 2030 and mobilize $200 billion annually for conservation. As of now, only 20% of land and 10% of marine areas are formally protected, falling far short of the ambitious goal.
Since the framework’s adoption, 1.3 million square kilometers of land and 6 million square kilometers of ocean have been designated for protection. However, this progress remains insufficient. A draft report to be presented at the upcoming UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference in Yerevan warns that none of the 23 targets under the agreement are on track for 2030 without rapid acceleration of efforts.
“Progress is being made clearly, but it is uneven, and it is clearly also not at the pace and scale required to achieve the Framework’s 23 targets by 2030,” Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the UNCBD, said at a briefing this month. The Campaign for Nature report, led by the US-based group, estimates that fulfilling current government pledges would protect 26% of terrestrial and inland water areas by 2030, still below the target, and only 13% of marine ecosystems.
Funding remains a critical shortfall. Annual biodiversity conservation requires the full $200 billion, but current spending falls dramatically short. Marine conservation alone receives $1.8 billion annually, compared to the $16 billion needed. The total funding gap ranges from $75 billion to $150 billion each year. Even with expanded protection, effectiveness is questionable: only 3.5% of the oceans currently under protection are deemed “effectively” conserved.
“There’s a significant gap between protection on paper and protection in practice. A line on a map does not mean protection in the water,” noted Pauli Merriman, senior director for oceans at WWF International.
