KMGBF report highlights progress, gaps in global biodiversity efforts ahead of COP17

Convention on Biological Diversity Executive Secretary Astrid Schomaker described COP17 in Yerevan as a good opportunity to discuss global challenges related to biodiversity.

“Four years ago, in Montreal, countries made important commitments, agreed on 23 targets, and said they would implement them and halt biodiversity loss by 2050,” she said at a press conference on the State of Biodiversity Action report, the first global report on collective progress in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).

“We intend to live in harmony with nature. More than 140 countries have submitted national reports, and 90% of countries have adopted national targets. These are unprecedented figures, and there is progress, yes. However, we do not want to be naive: much more needs to be done. When we examine the reports, we see significant gaps and find that progress is uneven across different targets. COP17 is a very important moment to seize this opportunity and turn the findings into action,” Schomaker said.

Ahead of the opening of the COP17 Leaders’ Summit, the report’s launch provides a key opportunity to bring its findings into the global spotlight, presenting a robust evidence base on global progress and highlighting where action is advancing and where greater efforts are needed to achieve the goals and targets of the KMGBF.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was adopted during the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) following a four year consultation and negotiation process. This historic Framework, which supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and builds on the Convention’s previous Strategic Plans, sets out an ambitious pathway to reach the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050. Among the Framework’s key elements are 4 goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030.