Montreal biodiversity agreement, nature’s lifesaver?

It is clear that we, humanity, are depleting & (partially) destroying nature. Can we stop & reverse the rapid loss of biodiversity? After 2 weeks of meetings, nearly 200 UN countries in Canada have agreed on new stricter agreements to combat the global biodiversity crisis. The so-called Kunming-Montreal agreement, a breakthrough?! Perhaps not the ideal agreement, but it seems to be a step in the right direction. Probably the 3 most important agreements are:

1. Designate 30% of the earth as protected areas by 2030
2. Financial commitments for biodiversity conservation
3. Recognition of the role of indigenous peoples in nature conservation

So, what does this actually mean? What are the goals & targets for 2030? Source: COP 15: historic global deal for nature and people

• Restore 30% degraded ecosystems globally (on land and sea) by 2030
• Conserve and manage 30% areas (terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine) by 2030
• Reduce risk from pesticides by at least 50% by 2030
• Reduce nutrients lost to the environment by at least 50% by 2030
• Reduce pollution risks and negative impacts of pollution from all sources by 2030 to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity and ecosystem functions
• Reduce global footprint of consumption by 2030, including through significantly reducing overconsumption and waste generation and halving food waste
• Reduce the rate of introduction and establishment of invasive alien species by at least 50% by 2030
• Secure the safe, legal and sustainable use and trade of wild species by 2030

By 2050, the extinction of known species must be halted, plus reduce tenfold the extinction risk and rate of all species (including unknown). Furthermore, they agreed:

• Sustainably manage areas under agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry and substantially increase agroecology and other biodiversity-friendly practices
• Tackle climate change through nature-based solutions
• Green up urban spaces

A nice wish list? What citizen wouldn’t support this? To bring this all together,money, as always, plays an important role. It has been agreed that a total of 200 billion euros per year should go to nature conservation worldwide. This includes development money from rich to poor countries. This will increase to 30 billion euros a year by 2030. This is a first step towards the full restoration of all global ecosystems by 2050. Great that there’s an agreement, but what about the implementation? What are the obligations of each country?