Global Biodiversity Goals Not Being Met, Says UN Report

A new report from the United Nations (UN) concludes that the world has not met any of the targets set 10 years ago by the Convention on Biological Diversity for protecting nature. The Global Biodiversity Outlook 5, published by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on September 15, 2020, serves as a final report card on progress on the 20 global biodiversity targets, known as the Aichi biodiversity targets, established in 2010 with a ten year deadline. The report found that despite some progress, natural habitats have continued to shrink, large numbers of species remain threatened by extinction from human activities, and environmentally harmful government subsidies have not been eradicated. Although none of the 20 targets have been fully achieved, six targets have been partially achieved, including those related to protected areas and invasive species. Protected areas have increased substantially from 10 percent to at least 15 percent terrestrially, and from 3 percent to 7 percent of the ocean. These figures, however, are still short of the targets of 17 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Forty-four percent of key biodiversity areas are now protected, compared with 29 percent 20 years ago. Good progress has been made on identifying, prioritizing, and eradicating invasive alien species. The rate of deforestation has fallen globally by about a third compared to the previous decade. On average, countries report that more than a third of all national targets are on...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news