Historic outcome at COP15 - a chance to keep our planet livable for generations to come!

19.12.2022

Early in the morning on 19 December, at the UN Biodiversity conference COP15 in Montréal, Canada, the EU joined 195 countries in the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This framework contains global goals and targets #ForOurPlanet, aiming to protect and restore nature for current and future generations, ensure its sustainable use as well as spur investments for a green global economy. This agreement provides a good foundation for global action on biodiversity, complementing the Paris Agreement for Climate, paving the way towards a climate-neutral, nature-positive and resilient world by 2050.

 

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The Kunming-Montreal biodiversity agreement includes key global targets to:

  • Restore 30% degraded ecosystems globally (on land and sea) by 2030
  • Conserve and manage 30% areas (terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine) by 2030
  • Stop the extinction of known species, and by 2050 reduce tenfold the extinction risk and rate of all species (including unknown)
  • Reduce risk from pesticides by at least 50% by 2030
  • Reduce nutrients lost to the environment by at least 50% by 2030
  • Reduce pollution risks and negative impacts of pollution from all sources by 2030 to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity and ecosystem functions
  • Reduce global footprint of consumption by 2030, including through significantly reducing overconsumption and waste generation and halving food waste
  • Sustainably manage areas under agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry and substantially increase agroecology and other biodiversity-friendly practices
  • Tackle climate change through nature-based solutions
  • Reduce the rate of introduction and establishment of invasive alien species by at least 50% by 2030
  • Secure the safe, legal and sustainable use and trade of wild species by 2030
  • Green up urban spaces.

The global community now has a roadmap to protect and restore nature, and use it sustainably – for current and future generations. And investing into nature also means fighting climate change."

- President von der Leyen on the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity agreement

 

In a statement following the agreement, President von der Leyen continued to say that it is very positive that we have both measurable targets, ie protecting 30% of global terrestrial and marine areas, and restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems as well as a mechanism to finance their implementation with the Global Biodiversity Fund. The international community subscribed to an international solidarity package, particularly for the most vulnerable countries and the most biodiverse.

President von der Leyen concluded:

"The EU will stay the course. The European Green Deal, as Europe's growth strategy, puts us at the forefront of this global economic transformation. "