Skip to Content
arrow-downarrow-top-rightemailfacebooklinkedinlocationmagnifypinterestprintredditsearch-button-closesearch-buttontriangletwitter

BirdLife International’s CEO Patricia Zurita released the following statement on the new Global Biodiversity Framework which was agreed at 3.35am in Montreal this morning:

“The text of the global biodiversity framework finally agreed today thankfully has the clear mission to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030. There are wins in the text for biodiversity conservation, for finance, for Indigenous peoples and local communities rights, and gender equality, with a commitment to take a human rights-based approach and recognition of the right to a healthy environment. 

Though ambition on the critical elements of species and ecosystems is less clear cut, there are elements to commend.  A clear win is the 30×30 target – the commitment to protect and conserve 30% of land and of oceans by 2030, which has finally landed in the framework after years of science, debate and horse-trading. However, it is essential that new protected areas are located in the most important places for nature and are effectively managed: weak language in the targets on these aspects means that we risk another decade of paper parks and losses in Key Biodiversity Areas. The recognition that species declines need to be addressed in order to halt and reverse biodiversity loss is also a win – with a commitment to take urgent management action to halt species extinction and to substantially reduce extinction risk by 2030. Again, however, and disappointingly, no concrete measurable elements to hold us accountable appear.

The finance package includes elements that are positive, beginning to close the finance gap for nature. We need more and we need it faster. The finance package includes elements that sum to close the finance gap for nature, with a commitment to reducing subsidies by at least $500 billion by year by 2030 and to mobilise $200 million of finance from all sources, from private and public finance, with a pledge to raise $30 billion annually by 2030 through official development assistance.  It is hoped the agreement of a new fund under the Global Environment Facility will unlock finances and channel funds to where they are most needed.

Overall, these broad-brush strokes are promising but we remain concerned about the inconsistencies in measurable elements across the framework. Without a concrete road map and verifiable timelines, we could be taking more steps back than forward.

We salute the governments for the all-night marathon efforts, and our partnership working in Montreal and around the globe with their national delegations, as well as our super Canadian partners for hosting us and pushing so hard. 

We implore governments to begin urgently to act now. Let’s get a good night’s sleep, but then get to work. Implementation cannot wait a second more. Nature is gasping its last breath and we must immediately begin its resuscitation by delivering concretely on this agreement, and more.”

More detail will emerge in due course but our Chief Scientist, Stu Butchart offers a quick reaction here.


Implementation cannot wait a second more. Nature is gasping its last breath and we must immediately begin its resuscitation by delivering concretely on this agreement, and more.

Patricia Zurita, BirdLife CEO

Patricia Zurita, BirdLife CEO
BirdLife and her partners agitate inside and outside the corridors of power
BirdLife, Audubon and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) announce innovative Americas Flyways project during Nature CoP
BirdLife Policy honcho Noelle Kumpel led her team and partners on site in Montreal

Related news

Play your partTo protect nature

Your support is critical to ensure that BirdLife International can continue its work, delivering high impact and long-term conservation for both people and nature.

Stay up to date

Sign up to receive the latest bird conservation news. You’ll also receive updates about our projects, science and other ways to get involved including fundraising.

Thank you for your support, we are committed to protecting your personal information and privacy. For more information on how we use your data, please see our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe from emails at any time by using the link in the footer of any email from us.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

The stakes are incredibly high because the final text will set the agenda for nature conservation over the next decade. The 196 nations that are signatories to the Convention are expected to translate the targets into domestic action with funding (institutional, philanthropic and private) hopefully aligned.

There is still an enormous amount to do, although the pace has fortunately quickened over the past 48 hours, which will hopefully deliver a text with fewer issues left for ministers to resolve. There is a risk that in the haste to remove brackets (text in brackets means that it is yet to be agreed) key issues get dropped, and we end up with a weak, toothless deal which fails to drive the transformative shift we need.

By Martin Harper

Header image: Protestors in colourful costumes at the March for Nature and Rights in Montreal, Saturday 10th December

BirdLife’s Chief Scientist Dr Stuart Butchart warns, “Reversing biodiversity loss is achievable by 2030 with transformative change. That’s why I’ve signed up to a statement urging governments to adopt ambitious targets for 2030 in the CBD Global Biodiversity Framework.”

The statement makes the following points.  COP15 negotiations must include time-bound targets for key drivers of biodiversity loss to be addressed. Time-bound means that progress or the lack thereof can be determined in real-time.  Achieving success will require wealthy countries to rapidly reduce the impact of their consumption. Researchers, conservationists, and the public across the world are also urging leaders for this agreement to include ambitious goals to ‘Halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity and put nature on a path to recovery by 2030.’ In other words, rather than simply stopping the further decline in species and habitats, we need to achieve a state where the amount of biodiversity worldwide is actually increasing.

There is a profound need for a human rights-based approach recognising the right to a healthy environment, which must be embedded into the operational goals and targets of the framework.

But major sticking points remain, especially…

…whether the final text will commit nations to protecting and conserving 30% of all terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine ecosystems by 2030 and how to ensure this will really focus on the key areas for biodiversity

…whether the targets will even match strong calls from the finance and business sectors themselves for measures such as mandatory biodiversity and human rights reporting to address the drivers of biodiversity loss

…whether there is a robust mechanism to guide rapid and immediate implementation and scale up action as needed

…when and how the financial resources will be mobilised to back up the commitments

Protestors’ sign at the March for Nature and Rights in Montreal, Saturday 10th December

Decisions in the final few days will determine whether governments do or do not want to put us on a path to a nature positive world. 

BirdLife reinforcements are also arriving this week with the number of Partners participating swelling to 20 (from all continents), each with an ability to influence their country delegations and complementing the impressive show of civil society strength both inside and (as the successful Montreal march showed yesterday) outside the conference hall. Their chants haunt the hallways.

“What do we want? Nature positive!

When do we want it? By 2030.

Choose ambition, not extinction.”

Patricia Zurita, BirdLife CEO, spoke to this crucial week ahead. “The power of our global family of national partners to influence and support their country’s negotiators with BirdLife’s science and policy is undeniable.  We insist that nature be at the heart of the solutions and action adopted. But conservation will not be enough. We must also radically change our consumption and the drivers that have created the nature crisis. Whether toxic agricultural subsidies, unsustainable fisheries or deforestation, our practices must be stopped and reversed. Governments must rise to the urgent challenge now if we and our planet are to have a chance of survival.”

Protestors in colourful costumes at the March for Nature and Rights in Montreal, Saturday 10th December

For more information click below:

https://www.cbd.int/doc/interventions/6394eaadfbbbcf0001db1735/Joint%20Conservation%20organisations%20stocktake%20statement%2C%20CBD%20COP15%2C%2010%20December%202022.pdf

BirdLife’s Policy Positions around the Global Biodiversity Framework