Deal struck to protect third of the planet by 2030

Nearly a third of the planet will be protected by 2030 under a new deal struck at the UN’s COP15 biodiversity summit.

Delegates at the “last chance” conference, in Canada, have pledged that at least 30% of the world’s land, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans will come under conservation in the next eight years.

As part of the pledge, special attention will be paid to areas deemed important for biodiversity, including tropical rainforests.

Currently, 17% and 10% of the world’s terrestrial and marine areas respectively are under protection.

Countries taking part in the UN biodiversity conference agreed to a total of 23 targets, including halving global food waste and slashing or phasing out government subsidies that harm nature by more than £400billion-a-year by the end of the decade.

It comes after a late objection from the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose delegates raised concerns about developed nations’ contributions to fund conservation in developing countries.

Delegates from the African nation had suggested that developed nations should “provide resources” to developing nations to help aid their conservation efforts.

But the deal was passed by the chair of the conference, the Chinese minister of ecology and environment, Huang Runqiu, on Monday morning.

The conference has been chaired by China, but is being held in Canada due to strict COVID-19 restrictions in the host nation.

The deal has been praised by some, including Sue Lieberman of the Wildlife Conservation Society, who said it had “really positive elements”.

But others questioned if it had gone far enough, with Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England, describing the deal as “too weak”.

He tweeted: “End game in Montreal, but plans too weak, including 30% target, which now not 30% protected on land & 30% on sea but 30% overall.

“Also species content too weak on extinction & abundance. Calls for ambition on finance must be matched by stronger ambition for nature recovery.”

Science correspondent

Nature isn’t just nice to have, it’s our life support. Our food depends on pollinating insects, our oxygen comes from trees and plankton, and many of our medicines are derived from plants.

So the deal done at the United Nations biodiversity summit in Montreal really matters.

There are 23 targets in all, but the most eye-catching is the protection given to 30% of the land and ocean by 2030, with priority given to the most important areas for biodiversity.

It should mean that ecosystems that have been trashed by human activity start to recover. And the decline in the abundance and variety of life on our planet should stop and begin to reverse by 2030.

The agreement has come just in time. Wildlife populations have plunged by almost 70% over the last 50 years, according to the last Living Planet Index by conservation charities WWF and the Zoological Society of London.

One million species are threatened with extinction, potentially the biggest loss of life since the dinosaurs. And humans and their livestock now account for 96% of all the mammal biomass on Earth. Yes, just 4% of all mammals by weight are wild.

Humanity has well and truly stomped all over nature. But having a deal is not the same as action. The agreement could be undermined by countries dragging their feet.

They will need to quickly identify and set aside areas for conservation. And richer nations will have to fulfil their pledges on money to help developing countries protect biodiversity.

On paper this is an historic deal for nature. But it’s in the forests, the rivers and the coral reefs that it has to make a difference.

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