Glasgow Climate Summit Builds Momentum Towards 30x30 Biodiversity Goals
Photo Credit: Jason Houston | Yurúa Conservation Concession, Peru
Over the past few weeks, world leaders convened in Glasgow, Scotland at the U.N. Climate Summit (COP26). Experts are in broad agreement that the international response to the climate crisis has been underwhelming to now – and that this meeting was the last, best chance to avoid catastrophic warming and its impacts to communities in every corner of the globe.
The media, policy experts, and advocates are still unpacking the outcome of COP26. One significant positive development from the summit was that policy-leaders are no longer treating the dual crises facing climate and biodiversity in silos. To the contrary, the outcomes from Glasgow are reflective of the prevailing scientific understanding: Safeguarding nature is an essential strategy to stabilize the climate. Protected ecosystems are sinks for carbon dioxide, and natural areas, like forests and wetlands, provide a buffer against the most severe impacts of climate change.
Indeed, the sentiment was captured in remarks from U.S. President Joe Biden at the Climate Summit:
“Conserving our forests and other critical ecosystems is indispensable — an indispensable piece of keeping our climate goals within reach as well as many other key priorities that we have together: ensuring clean water, maintaining biodiversity, supporting rural and Indigenous communities, and reducing the risk of the spread of disease…”
President Biden continued by touting his administration's commitment to conserve at least 30 percent of all U.S. lands and waters by 2030 – a reflection of the international momentum to accelerate the pace and scale of conservation with a goal of protecting 30 percent of the planet’s surface by decade’s end (30x30). The 30x30 goal is being pursued by the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, a growing coalition of nearly 80 nations pushing for the adoption of the 30x30 target at the U.N. Biodiversity Summit in Kunming, China next year.
More significantly, the words delivered by world leaders were matched by meaningful commitments of resources and by policy actions to safeguard the planet’s wildlife and wild places. Just a few examples include:
President Biden pledged to mobilize billions of dollars to halt natural forest loss and restore at least an additional 500 million acres of forests and other ecosystems by 2030. The commitment of resources was part of a broader announcement from 100 nations to end deforestation by 2030.
Canada said that it was going to allocate at least 20 percent of its $5.3 billion climate finance commitment to nature-based climate solutions with biodiversity co-benefits in developing countries over the next five years.
Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, and Costa Rica announced they would increase the size of their protected territorial waters, creating the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor, a 200,000 square mile fishing-free corridor in one of the world’s most important migratory routes for whales, sharks, sea turtles, and other marine life.
The U.K., Norway, Germany, the U.S., and the Netherlands, alongside more than a dozen private funders, committed to investing nearly $2 billion to support Indigenous and local community-led efforts to protect biodiversity.
Nature remains one of the most potent tools in the fight against climate change. The Climate Summit in Glasgow provided good momentum, which the leaders will need to capitalize on when nations meet next year in Kunming to finalize a robust plan to save nature.