18/7/23, 16:46 UN draft plan sets 2030 target to avert Earth's sixth mass extinction | Biodiversity | The Guardian

The age of extinction

This article is more than 3 years old

UN draft plan sets 2030 target to avert Earth's sixth

mass extinction
Paris-style proposal to counter loss of ecosystems and wildlife vital
to the future of humanity will go before October summit

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Patrick Greenfield
@pgreenfielduk
Mon 13 Jan 2020 11.41 GMT

Almost a third of the world’s oceans and land should be protected by the end of the
decade to stop and reverse biodiversity decline that risks the survival of humanity,
according to a draft Paris-style UN agreement on nature.
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18/7/23, 16:46 UN draft plan sets 2030 target to avert Earth's sixth mass extinction | Biodiversity | The Guardian

To combat what scientists have described as the sixth mass extinction event in Earth’s
history, the proposal sets a 2030 deadline for the conservation and restoration of

ecosystems and wildlife that perform crucial services for humans.

The text, drafted by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, is expected to be

adopted by governments in October at a crucial UN summit in the Chinese city of
Kunming. It comes after countries largely failed to meet targets for the previous decade
agreed in Aichi, Japan, in 2010.

As well as calling for a commitment to protect at least 30% of the planet, the 20-point
draft plan, which has been likened to the 2015 Paris agreement on the climate crisis,
aims to introduce controls on invasive species and reduce pollution from plastic waste
and excess nutrients by 50%.

The draft text has been welcomed by environmental campaigners, who have called on
governments to treat the targets outlined in the accord as the minimum acceptable
level for which to aim.

The director of Campaign for Nature, Brian O’Donnell, said: “Today’s draft shows that
countries are listening and that they recognise the increasingly important role that
protecting land and water must play in confronting climate change, preventing wildlife
extinctions, and supporting people and local communities. This is a very encouraging
first step.

“Much work remains to be done in the coming months to ensure that the rights of
indigenous people are advanced, and bold conservation and finance targets are
included in the final agreement.”

By 2030, the trade in wild species must be legal and sustainable, according to the draft
document, which also aims to promote the full and effective participation of
indigenous peoples and local communities in decision-making about biodiversity.

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The planned agreement forms part of a long-term international framework that aims to
ensure biodiversity is sustainably valued and conserved by 2050.

Enric Sala, explorer-in-residence at National Geographic, and co-author of the Global

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18/7/23, 16:46 UN draft plan sets 2030 target to avert Earth's sixth mass extinction | Biodiversity | The Guardian

Deal for Nature, said: “If adopted, this target could achieve what our children have
been calling on governments to do – listen to the science. If we are to stay below 1.5C

(2.7F), prevent the extinction of 1 million species and the collapse of our life support
system, we need to protect our intact wilderness, and ensure at least 30% of our land
and oceans are protected by 2030.

“But this is the floor, not the ceiling. Now every government on
Earth must get behind this bold mission and drive through a global agreement for
nature this year.”

In May, the world’s leading scientists warned that nature is being destroyed at a rate up
to hundreds of times higher than the average for the previous 10 million years, due to
human activity.

The destruction of the planet’s coral reefs, rainforests and other vital ecosystems have
placed human society in jeopardy, with the report’s authors warning of “ominous”
consequences such as freshwater shortages and climate instability unless radical
action is taken.

This article was amended on 15 January 2020. An earlier version included an

absolute temperature conversion, of 1.5C to 34.7F, rather than converting a
temperature rise of 1.5C, which is a rise of 2.7F. This has been corrected.

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