Historic Conservation Agreement Reached on Last Day of COP15

A historic international agreement pledges to protect 30 percent of the earth’s land and water by 2030, reports Hannah Ward-Glenton for CNBC.

The deal, known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, was reached at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference this week (COP15) and includes a promise to raise $200 billion. “Financing for poorer countries will increase to at least $20 billion per year by 2025, according to the agreement, set to increase to $30 billion annually by 2030.”

While the deal is a good start, Alfred DeGemmis, associate director of international policy for the Wildlife Conservation Society, says it should be treated as “a floor, not a ceiling,” indicating that governments must do more than outlined in the framework to achieve meaningful outcomes. According to a press release from the Society, “The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is a compromise and although it has several very good and hard-fought elements, it could have gone further to truly transform our destructive relationship with nature.”

The article points out that “despite the name, many of the ‘30 by 30’ actions have 2050 as a deadline rather than 2030, which isn’t urgent enough according to the society.”