Can the UK deliver more than just ambition for the Global Biodiversity Framework? – Inside track

This post is by Elliot Chapman-Jones, Head of Public Affairs at The Wildlife Trusts. It is part of our COP16 miniseries, a collection of blogs spotlighting this year’s UN Biodiversity Conference.

“It’s time to roll up our sleeves!” This was the message from the last UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) almost two years ago when the world came together to agree the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

The GBF put forward a bold and historic commitment made by nearly 200 countries to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

To put the world on course to meet this ambition, the GBF sets out 23 global targets to be completed by 2030. Perhaps the best known of these is target three: to protect and manage 30 per cent of land, inland waters and seas by 2030, referred to as 30 by 30. It is the biggest conservation commitment the world has ever seen and creates a north star target for biodiversity that can provide the same level of focus as the temperature targets do for climate.

Of course, biodiversity targets are not new. Over two decades ago, at COP6, governments committed themselves to slow the rate of extinctions around the world by 2010. When that was not met, COP10 agreed a set of 20 targets to be met by 2020, known as the Aichi Targets. Implementation was again disappointing. At a global level, none of the targets were fully achieved and, in the UK, nature continued to decline.

The ambition of the latest targets in the GBF is welcome. All nations need to dramatically up their game on protecting and restoring nature, but the true test will be effective implementation by those nations. That’s why the current UN Biodiversity Conference COP16 is so crucial. It’s the first opportunity for the world to take stock of monitoring and progress towards the GBF.

Getting the governance right
The UK has played an important role in the nature COP process but has often not backed this up with implementation at home. The international negotiations, where the UK’s negotiating mandates are often straightforwardly met, is the easy and attractive part for Ministers. It’s undoubtedly important, but our role on the world stage risks being undermined by a failure to do the hard work at home.

Ahead of COP16, all countries must submit their ‘national targets’, which should align with the targets in the GBF, followed by a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) to outline how each country will achieve them. While the UK successfully submitted its targets, it joined the 80 per cent of countries who failed to set out how they plan to meet them.

The ongoing review of the UK Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) is a perfect opportunity to get the governance right and look at how England’s policies stack up to meet the GBF targets.

The UK Government has already adopted legally binding environmental targets for England through the Environment Act. Aligning how these sit alongside and support the achievement of the GBF is critical. Targets in the Environment Act to create more wildlife rich habitat, for example, should also support the delivery of the 30 by 30 goal. An updated EIP must set out a clear delivery pathway on how to meet both these priorities.

The government should prioritise high impact actions
There is a long checklist of policy building blocks that are needed to meet the GBF targets (excellently summarised by Wildlife and Countryside Link), many of which will help support the delivery of multiple targets. These actions should be prioritised.

Of these, supporting nature friendly farming is one of the most effective. Agriculture has been a key driver of nature loss in England, as well as the leading cause of river pollution. Supporting farmers in adopting regenerative, nature friendly methods, has huge potential to reverse nature’s decline. This shift has the potential to meet the GBF targets to protect species, reduce pollution and the harm from pesticides, minimise the impacts of climate change, achieve 30 by 30 and, most obviously, enhance biodiversity and sustainability in agriculture.

Many farmers and land managers have gone to great lengths to support wildlife but have seen the real terms value of the budget for environmental farming fall by a third since 2010. Alongside supporting the higher tier schemes that will deliver the most for biodiversity and providing independent advice for farmers, our analysis estimates that the budget needs a significant increase to meet legally binding nature and climate targets.

The UK Government also has the opportunity to use reforms to the planning system and the upcoming Land Use Framework to support the implementation of the GBF, particularly 30 by 30. Analysis shows that we’re going backward on progress toward meeting this target. Less than three per cent of land in England is effectively protected and managed for nature, whilst a maximum of 9.92 per cent of English seas is considered protected for nature.

Planning reform must put 30 by 30 at its heart, ensuring all new developments play an active role in nature recovery. Significant new funding is also needed to expand and improve the protected sites network, National Parks and National Landscapes, and to designate more English waters as Highly Protected Marine Areas.

The decade of delivery
2020 began with great excitement around the ‘decade of delivery’, a decade of decisive action on nature, climate and sustainability. With nearly half the decade already gone, we have so far delivered ambition but not action.

The agreement signed in Montreal two years ago was a historic moment that offered real hope for turning the corner on nature’s decline. To turn that ambition into action, the UK Government must speed up and scale up implementation through their updated Environmental Improvement Plan and bring together government, business, civil society, and communities in a mission to restore the wildlife across our county.