19 December 2022 marked the adoption of what is being called a historic package of measures accepted by the parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Nation representatives from around the world gathered in Canada where for two weeks they discussed how to halt and reverse the dangerous loss of biodiversity and natural ecosystems. The result of their two-week-long meeting? The “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF) with a clear mission for 2030 and a vision for 2050.

The UN CBD is dedicated to promoting sustainable development by offering a comprehensive global strategy, which governments around the world can embody to make the conservation of biological diversity a real priority. The Conference of the Parties (COP), as CBD’s governing body, advances the implementation of the Convention through its periodic meetings, such as the one that took place this December in Canada – COP15.

COP15 ended with a landmark biodiversity agreement identifying four long-term goals for 2050 and 23 targets which need to be initiated immediately and completed by 2030. And whereas SHOWCASE embraces all 23 targets as an essential piece of solving the biodiversity loss puzzle, the project is especially excited to see that under Target 10 nations have to ensure that areas under agriculture are managed sustainably, including through a substantial increase of the application of biodiversity-friendly practices. Additionally, under Target 18, GBF highlights the need to identify and phase out or reform the incentives harmful to biodiversity, which is in line with SHOWCASE’s policy recommendation to phase out policy regulations that provide financial incentives for farming systems that contribute to the ongoing biodiversity loss. 

And amid the excitement that comes along with such a landmark framework, comes the realisation that we now have to live up to them, especially, the governments who have to step up and update their national biodiversity strategies and action plans to achieve GBF’s mission for 2030. So, we stay tuned for more biodiversity-positive policy changes to come in the future!

You can find all the relevant COP15 documents here.

Photo: Adoption of the Kunming Montreal Framework. Photo by Julian Haber. Copyright notice - julianhaber.com. Licensed under CC BY 2.0. Available here.