Is '30R+30Px30T' the real summary of the K-M Global Biodiversity Framework?

I have to confess that I didn’t follow #COP15 as closely as I perhaps should have. I remember all the anticipation, hope and excitement surrounding the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and, over the decades I have slipped into the jaded view, recently expressed by Bram Büscher in a The Conversation UK article, that ‘UN summits have become little more than travelling circuses filled with desperate hopes but no real-world influence’.

A big component of my doctoral research was on the history and governance of #protectedareas. When I clocked that ‘30×30’ was being shared as the headline target and outcome of the negotiations, I assumed this referred to a commitment to expand the coverage of protected areas to 30% of the planet by 2030.

Given that governments set a target of 10% in 1962 and 40 years later we have achieved 17% my reaction to this target was ‘in eight years? Really? As a rewilder, I was also a bit miffed that the headline outcome of the first COP of the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration seemed to be all about protection.

As many of you will know, I shifted my focus from #biodiversity protection to #ecosystemrestoration (#rewilding) about 15 years ago. After 6-7 years working on the Sumatran frontier I felt the need to be part of something more hopeful and I had come to realise that a conservation movement that adopted a dual agenda of protection and restoration would be far more effective than one that only prioritised protection.

Anyhow..., last week I found time to sit down and properly read the official text of the Kunming-Motreal Global Biodiversity Framework released on 27th Dec. I was surprised and totally made up to see that Goal A is all about maintaining, enhancing and restoring ecosystem integrity and resilience.

GOAL A reads ‘The integrity, connectivity and resilience of all ecosystems are maintained, enhanced, or restored, substantially increasing the area of natural ecosystems by 2050’

It was also nice to see that, chronologically at least, ecosystem restoration precedes biodiversity conservation and management

TARGET 2 reads 'Ensure that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland, water, and coastal and marine ecosystems are under effective restoration, in order to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, ecological integrity and connectivity'

and TARGET 3 "Ensure and enable that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, inland water, and of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are effectively conserved and managed ...."

This leads me to suggest that the actual ‘hot button’ or catchy slogan to communicate targets agreed COP15 could be

30 + 30 x 30 or, more truthfully, 30 + 30 by 8

Or, if we want to the avoid 'by 2030? get real!' reactions we could integrate the fact that GEF goals express a 2050 vision. This would lead to a more realistic slogan of

  30 x 30 x 50

In my view such numbers are bit short on meaning and content so we might do better to express it as ‘formula for the future’

hf = (30R =30P) x 30T or 30Rx30Px30T

Where hf = a hopeful future for all life, R = restoration, P = protection and T= time (30 years from 2020).  Note: I am sure a mathematician could express my formula more eloquently!

Moving on... I read the GBF with the inevitable eye for statements that both support and express my area of conservation work and demonstrates its contribution to the delivery of internationally agreed goals and targets. Since leaving academia join Ecosulis in 2018, my work has focused on the challenge of how to make rewilding and nature recovery 'fit' for #investment. Specifically we (now as CreditNature ) have designed a novel ecosystem integrity index to underpin nature credit markets and financial instruments such as nature-related performance bonds. I feel privileged to be part of a progressive community of professionals innovating at the boundaries of #finance, #business, #technology and #ecology and it is heartening to see the value of our work so clearly specified in this important new Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

To close, here is my summary of the contribution the nature finance community is making to the delivery of GBF goals and targets. 

The nature finance community is enabling delivery of Target 19 to ‘Substantially and progressively increase the level of financial resources from all sources…’ and ‘by 2030 mobilize at least 200 billion US$ per year’. More specifically, it is enabling delivery of Target 19c which is about “Leveraging private finance, promoting blended finance, implementing strategies for raising new and additional resources, and encouraging the private sector to invest in biodiversity, including through impact funds and other instruments” and expresses the spirit and intent of Target 19d to “stimulate innovative schemes such as …,green bonds, biodiversity offsets and credits”.

The work that CreditNature and others are doing on metrics, connects Target 19 with Target 15. This is closely linked to the TNFD process and is about taking measure to encourage and enable business to monitor and report corporate risks, dependencies and impacts on nature (shame ecosystem integrity not mention here). Progress towards this targets will unlock the financial flows crucial for meeting the targets and goals reported earlier in this post.

 I’d welcome and value interpretations that extend, finesse and/or challenge/correct this early analysis of the GEF text.

#naturepositive #naturebasedsolutions #conservationfinance #greenbonds #sustainablefinance #biodiversitycredits GBIF: The Global Biodiversity Information Facility UN Biodiversity Green Finance Institute IUCN Rewilding Europe Global Rewilding Alliance