YEREVAN, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday launched the first global assessment report on the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, warning that global efforts remain off track to meet the 2030 targets despite widespread national commitments.
The State of Biodiversity Action report, released in the Armenian capital of Yerevan ahead of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), evaluates collective progress under the landmark framework adopted in December 2022, which sets out 23 targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and four long-term goals for 2050.
According to the report, nearly 90 percent of the CBD's 196 Parties have established national biodiversity targets, close to 60 percent have developed national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and over 70 percent have submitted national reports. Indigenous peoples and local communities, subnational governments, businesses and civil society organizations have also registered around 5,000 commitments.
However, such widespread engagement has not yet translated into sufficient progress. None of the 23 global targets presents a fully positive picture, and fewer than half of the national targets assessed by Parties are currently on track, the report found.
While national targets address an average of 22 of the 23 global targets, many fail to cover their full scope. For instance, far fewer countries have committed to reducing harmful subsidies under Target 18 than promoting positive incentives, and current national pledges under Target 3 fall well short of the goal to conserve 30 percent of land and sea by 2030.
The report identified gaps in financing and other means of implementation, whole-of-government and whole-of-society action, as well as data and knowledge needed to track progress. Targets requiring action beyond environment ministries -- including business action, sustainable consumption, harmful incentives and finance -- are among those lagging furthest behind.
"The report shows that many of the critical elements of progress, including finance, capacity, cooperation and data, are still missing in action," Guterres said. "Nature won't thrive on good intentions."
The UN chief called for greater financial and technical support, particularly for developing countries, the reform of harmful subsidies, nature-positive investment, and stronger integration of biodiversity across public policies and budgets.
"The very biodiversity we depend on needs tangible progress, not more promises," Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, said in the report's foreword, urging immediate action to overcome implementation challenges.
The report will inform the first global review of collective progress under the framework at COP17, scheduled for Oct. 19 through 30 in Yerevan. ■
