The 30x30 Target
- Rituraj Phukan
The World Economic Forum has ranked “biodiversity loss” among the top-five risks to the global economy. A growing coalition of countries have adopted the 30x30 target, which aims at putting a halt at the accelerating loss of species and protecting vital ecosystems that are the source of our economic security.
The momentum is driven by the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People an intergovernmental group of countries that champions a global deal for nature with the central goal of protecting at least 30% of the land and 30% of the ocean by 2030.
First launched in 2020, HAC now has over 60 countries with it, with increased impetus since the One Planet Summit for biodiversity in January. The coalition is mobilizing efforts towards global adoption of the 30x30 target at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) at Kunming in October. The HAC works closely with the Global Ocean Alliance, which focuses on the global target to protect at least 30% of the ocean.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) draft post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework also proposes an expansion of conservation areas to 30% of the earth’s surface by 2030, using Protected Areas (PAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs).
In April 2019, the Global Deal for Nature, a scientific time-bound plan, noted that protecting at least 30% of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030 and conserving an additional 20 percent of the planet as climate stabilization areas can effectively conserve species and achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
A group of IUCN experts concluded that “the global protection of a minimum of 30 percent and up to 70 percent, or even higher, of the land and sea on Earth is well supported, in a review of literature on area-based conservation in November 2019.
In a comprehensive report on the economic implications of protecting nature, economists and scientists found that the global economy would benefit from establishment of more PAs on land and at sea. The report on Protecting 30% of the planet for nature: costs, benefits and economic implications offers new evidences about how nature conservation drives economic growth, delivers key non-monetary benefits and is a net contributor to a resilient global economy.
The HAC lists a growing body of scientific research advocating protection of half the planet, with 30x30 as an interim goal, to address runaway climate and biodiversity crises. The 30x30 target will need doubling of current land protections and more than quadrupling of current ocean protections.
Our future depends on how well we prevent the collapse of natural systems that provide us food, clean water, clean air, and stable climate, in a nutshell, life supporting elements. In order to preserve these services, we must protect enough of the natural world to sustain them.
About the Author:
Rituraj Phukan, National Coordinator for Biodiversity, The Climate Reality Project India; COO, Walk For Water; Secretary General, Green Guard Nature Organization
