UN Nature Pact: Nearly 200 Nations Miss Targets

Nearly 200 countries joined the “Paris Agreement for Nature” four years ago. A United Nations report says nations have moved slowly on its objectives, and many biodiversity targets remain off track. The pact sets 23 targets for halting and reversing nature loss by 2030, including reducing pollution, protecting threatened species and conserving 30% of the world’s land and oceans.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched the report on Thursday. It found that the world is falling short of its biodiversity commitments, with many critical elements of progress still missing. Nations are due to consider the findings in Armenia, where COP17 talks were scheduled to begin on Monday.

The 2030 commitments

The agreement’s 23 targets cover efforts to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. They include reducing pollution, protecting threatened species and conserving 30% of the world’s land and oceans. Countries have so far been slow to meet those commitments, the report says.

Guterres said many targets were off track. “It’s not all bad news... There is progress, but not enough. We are far from what is necessary,” he told reporters in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. He spoke as he launched the report, which assessed progress toward the biodiversity commitments.

The Secretary-General also said that “many of the critical elements of progress... are still missing in action.” The report describes a gap between the pact’s objectives and the progress countries have made. It identifies shortcomings across the commitments, but the supplied account doesn’t name particular countries or detail their individual performance.

Nations prepare to assess progress

When countries meet in Armenia the following week, they’re due to assess progress and obstacles toward the 2030 goal of stopping the destruction of nature. COP17 talks were scheduled to start Monday, October 19, in Yerevan. The report came out three days before that scheduled opening.

The agreement brought nearly 200 countries into a shared framework four years ago. Its objectives include reducing pollution, protecting threatened species and conserving land and oceans. The new report says nations have been slow to act, and many targets remain off track as the 2030 deadline approaches.

Guterres called overall progress insufficient, while acknowledging that some progress had been made. “There is progress, but not enough,” he said. The report’s central finding is that the world is falling short of its biodiversity commitments, and critical elements needed to advance the targets remain missing.

The upcoming meeting in Armenia was set to give nations an opportunity to assess progress and obstacles. Countries planned to examine movement toward stopping nature’s destruction by 2030. The report and Guterres’s remarks put the 23 targets—and the shortfall in carrying them out—before the countries that joined the pact.