At least 30% of the world’s land and seas should be protected in the next decade to prevent the destruction of the planet’s biodiversity.
That is one of the proposals by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for a global framework to protect the Earth’s plant and wildlife.
The draft text published by the CBD on Monday outlines a 10-year strategy to halt the decline and extinction of species and allow ecosystems to recover by 2050.
Governments are due to adopt a new set of biodiversity targets during talks in Kunming, China, in October to replace the 2020 goals agreed in Aichi, Japan, in 2010 most of which have been missed. The draft text will form the basis for negotiations this year.
Under the Aichi goals, governments agreed to prevent the extinction of know threatened species by 2020 and to improve their conservation status.
But a major report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Ipbes) in May last year warned species extinction was accelerating with ecosystems deteriorating at rates unprecedented in human history.
The report found one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, with climate change identified as the third biggest driver after changes in land and sea use and the direct exploitation of organisms.
The Kunming meeting will be a key moment for the world to define a global strategy for protecting biodiversity. Governments are under pressure to make the summit what the 2015 climate talks in Paris were for global climate action.
Monday’s draft text presents a number of targets in brackets, which will be discussed and likely altered by governments.
One of the proposed goals is for protected areas and other conservation measures to cover at least [30%] of land and sea areas with at least [10%] under strict protection by 2030.
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