Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Background of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

• UN CBD’s COP15 was originally planned for Kunming, China in 2020, but was postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and later split into a two-part event.
• Phase one took place virtually, from 11 to 15 October 2021. And the second phase of COP15 was held in Montreal, Canada, from 7 to 19 December 2022.

Key Highlights of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)

Conservation, Protection and Restoration

• 30 by 30 target (Protection): The countries have committed to protecting 30% of land and 30% of coastal and marine areas by 2030. Indigenous and traditional territories will also count toward this goal.
  • Currently 17% and 10% of the world’s terrestrial and marine areas respectively are under protection.
• Restoration: The deal also aspires to restore 30% of degraded lands and waters throughout the decade, up from an earlier aim of 20%.
• Conservation: The countries will strive to prevent destroying intact landscapes and areas with a lot of species, bringing those losses “close to zero by 2030”.

Money for Nature

• Signatories aim to ensure $200 billion per year is channeled to conservation initiatives, from public and private sources.
• Wealthier countries should contribute at least $20 billion of this every year by 2025, and at least $30 billion a year by 2030.

Reporting by Big Companies

• Large companies and financial institutions should analyze and report how their operations affect and are affected by biodiversity issues.
• This reporting is intended to progressively promote biodiversity, reduce the risks posed to business by the natural world, and encourage sustainable production.

Harmful Subsidies

• Countries committed to identify subsidies that deplete biodiversity by 2025, and then eliminate, phase out or reform them.
• They agreed to slash those incentives by at least $500 billion a year by 2030, and increase incentives that are positive for conservation.

Other Important Targets for 2030

• Food waste: Cut global food waste in half and significantly reduce over consumption and waste generation.
• Pesticides: Reduce by half both excess nutrients and the overall risk posed by pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals.
• Invasive alien species: Reduce the introduction of invasive alien species at least by half by 2030.

Monitoring and Reporting Progress

• All the agreed aims will be supported by processes to monitor progress in the future, in a bid to prevent this agreement meeting the same fate as similar targets that were agreed in Aichi, Japan, in 2010, and never met.
• National action plans will be set and reviewed, following a similar format used for greenhouse gas emissions under U.N.-led efforts to curb climate change.

UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

• Establishment: It is a multilateral treaty under the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit 1992 and entered into force in December 1993.
• Three main goals of the convention:
  • The conservation of biological diversity
  • The sustainable use of biodiversity
  • The fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.
• Headquarters: Montreal, Canada.
• Members: Currently 196 countries are party to the CBD. India is also a party to the Convention. India ratified it in 1994. The United States of America (USA) has not ratified the Convention.
• Supplementary agreements: The convention has two supplementary agreements under it namely,
  • The Cartagena Protocol: Adopted in 2000. It seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by genetically modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology.
  • The Nagoya Protocol: Adopted in 2010. Its aim is the implementation of one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
    • Aichi Biodiversity Targets are an outcome of Nagoya Protocol to protect biodiversity.
• India enacted Biological Diversity Act in 2002 for giving effect to the provisions of the CBD.

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