Nature Pact Stalls as Governments Miss 2030 Targets

Nearly 200 countries joined the Paris Agreement for Nature four years ago, but many of its 23 targets remain off track, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday. The pact calls for halting and reversing nature loss by 2030, and countries still have far to go.

A pact with targets, but little progress

The agreement set 23 targets, from reducing pollution and protecting threatened species to conserving 30% of the world's land and oceans. Countries have been slow to act on those objectives, according to the report Guterres launched. Many targets are off track, the report found, and critical elements of progress are still missing.

The findings turn attention to what governments have done since joining the pact—and what remains undone. Nearly 200 countries signed on, but the source article doesn't identify individual governments' records, specify how much land or ocean countries have conserved, or quantify pollution reductions. It gives no figures for threatened species. The targets' deadline is 2030.

Guterres called the record mixed. “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 Thursday.

Governments face a progress review

Nations were due to meet in Armenia the following week to assess progress and obstacles to reaching the 2030 goal of stopping nature's destruction. The COP17 talks were set to begin Monday. The meeting is intended to examine the gap between the pact's objectives and the progress reported so far.

“The war on nature has not yet ended,” Guterres said. He added that “many of the critical elements of progress... are still missing in action.” The report and his remarks point to government commitments and the failure to meet many targets, but the article doesn't describe penalties for missing them or explain how anyone will enforce compliance.

The account also doesn't name workers, communities, unions, companies or industries affected by the targets. It reports no profits, costs, ownership figures or employment changes linked to biodiversity loss or conservation. No organized resistance or labor response appears in the account. It offers no details of a proposed reform beyond the existing pact's targets and the planned review of progress and obstacles.

The deadline remains 2030

At the Armenia meeting, countries were to assess their progress and the obstacles to stopping nature's destruction by 2030. The source article doesn't say what new measures, if any, governments plan to adopt after the review. Nor does it break down which targets have advanced, which have stalled, or what resources countries have committed.

The reported record, then, rests on a broad commitment and an assessment that action has fallen short. Nearly 200 countries joined the agreement. The pact has 23 targets. Many remain off track, Guterres said. “There is progress, but not enough,” he said. The deadline for halting and reversing nature loss is 2030.