Global Biodiversity Framework Research Articles

Review of Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Use in West Asia and North Africa

Ensuring global food security in the face of climate change is critical to human survival. With a predicted human population of 9.6 billion in 2050 and the demand for food supplies expected to increase by 60% globally, but with a parallel potential reduction in crop production for wheat by 6.0%, rice by 3.2%, maize by 7.4%, and soybean by 3.1% by the end of the century, maintaining future food security will be a challenge. One potential solution is new climate-smart varieties created using the breadth of diversity inherent in crop wild relatives (CWRs). Yet CWRs are threatened, with 16–35% regarded as threatened and a significantly higher percentage suffering genetic erosion. Additionally, they are under-conserved, 95% requiring additional ex situ collections and less than 1% being actively conserved in situ; they also often grow naturally in disturbed habitats limiting standard conservation measures. The urgent requirement for active CWR conservation is widely recognized in the global policy context (Convention on Biological Diversity post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, UN Sustainable Development Goals, the FAO Second Global Plan of Action for PGRFA, and the FAO Framework for Action on Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture) and breeders highlight that the lack of CWR diversity is unnecessarily limiting crop improvement. CWRs are not spread evenly across the globe; they are focused in hotspots and the hottest region for CWR diversity is in West Asia and North Africa (WANA). The region has about 40% of global priority taxa and the top 17 countries with maximum numbers of CWR taxa per unit area are all in WANA. Therefore, improved CWR active conservation in WANA is not only a regional but a critical global priority. To assist in the achievement of this goal, we will review the following topics for CWRs in the WANA region: (1) conservation status, (2) community-based conservation, (3) threat status, (4) diversity use, (5) CURE—CWR hub: (ICARDA Centre of Excellence), and (6) recommendations for research priorities. The implementation of the recommendations is likely to significantly improve CWRs in situ and ex situ conservation and will potentially at least double the availability of the full breadth of CWR diversity found in WANA to breeders, and so enhance regional and global food and nutritional security.

Trends in botanical exploration in Nigeria forecast over 1000 yet undescribed vascular plant species.

Taxonomists are primary actors of biodiversity assessment. At the same time, there is awareness by the taxonomic community at large that the field is going through a crisis, sometimes referred to as the 'taxonomic impediment'. Coupled with the ongoing biodiversity crisis, or 6th mass extinction, this biodiversity impedance puts at risk the target set in the Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) Global Biodiversity Framework vision 2050, which calls for urgent action to '… put biodiversity on a path to recovery by 2030 for the benefit of planet and people'. This risk is particularly pronounced in tropical African countries where taxonomic studies are done on an ad hoc basis. In this study, our aim is to investigate the historical trends in botanical exploration of vascular plants in Nigeria and forecast the near-term (50-year) description of presently unknown species, which we use to discuss scenarios of taxonomic effort that may be necessary for a comprehensive biodiversity assessment in the country. The study is based on a dataset from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, containing all vascular plant species reported to occur in Nigeria. We fit nested Bayesian time series regressions to estimate the long-term trend in the rate of description of vascular plant species in Nigeria. From these models, we use an ensemble forecast to estimate the number of species descriptions by the year 2070, and then evaluate the description rates per taxonomist required to meet this estimate under different totals of active taxonomists. We find a striking difference in species description between Nigerian botanists and their foreign counterparts, with the former contributing relatively small numbers. Additionally, only a fraction of the authors involved in describing Nigeria's vascular plants are of indigenous origin. Our study reveals that the number of new species described annually exhibits a long-term increasing trend, with an average of 19.5 species described per year. However, after taking into account year-to-year variability and the number of taxonomists active in a given year, the long-term trend in species descriptions credibly declines over time. While the number of authors involved in describing species has generally increased over time, it has remained stable since the 1950s. Predictions for the number of new species descriptions by 2070 vary by model, with an ensemble prediction estimating 1140 species descriptions, but ranging from 1004 to 2239 between individual models. The study estimates that current levels of taxonomic activity should lead to a 20 % increase in known species of vascular plants in Nigeria over the next 50 years, which is still probably an underestimate of the true, unknown species richness. Urgent action is needed to address the taxonomic impediment so that local taxonomic studies in tropical African countries can achieve the CBD's Global Biodiversity Framework vision 2050. Here, we outline some key pathways to achieving this goal.

Diseñando la coexistencia urbana

This paper critically examines the prevailing paradigms of environmental and spatial justice, emphasising the existing disparities in policies that predominantly favour human interests while overlooking the fundamental rights and well-being of non-human species. Despite the growing acknowledgement of the importance of establishing a deeper connection between human and non-human actors for overall well-being, a pervasive speciesism mindset persists, distancing humans from the broader natural world. This separation from nature profoundly influences the formulation of policies and justice, establishing a bias that focuses primarily on human concerns and environmental conditions tailored to human well-being. Architects and planners, despite possessing the potential to enrich habitats for various species, frequently adopt human-centric approaches that marginalise other-than-human entities, restricting their access to the immediate surroundings of human territories and impeding opportunities for immersive nature experiences. This article advocates for a comprehensive paradigm shift in architectural practices, urging a more inclusive and equitable approach that extends spatial and environmental justice to encompass the diverse needs and rights of both human and non-human species within the urban landscape. The conclusions underscore the urgent need for architects and planners to re-evaluate their approaches, fostering an environment that supports coexistence and acknowledges the interconnectedness of all species. In the face of global biodiversity concerns and international frameworks such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the research contributes to the discourse on sustainable and ethical design practices, advocating for a future where spatial and environmental justice extends its reach beyond the confines of human experience to create a respectful and just coexistence with the entire ecological community.

An assessment of future rewilding potential in the United Kingdom.

Restoring ecosystems is an imperative for addressing biodiversity loss and climate change, and achieving the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. One form of restoration, rewilding, may have particular promise but may also be precluded by requirements for other forms of land use now or in the future. This opportunity space is critical but challenging to assess. We explored the potential area available for rewilding in Great Britain until the year 2080 with a multisectoral land-use model with several distinct climatic and socioeconomic scenarios. By 2080, areas from 5000 to 7000km2 were either unmanaged or managed in ways that could be consistent with rewilding across scenarios without conflicting with the provision of ecosystem services. Beyond these areas, another 24,000-42,000km2 of extensive upland management could provide additional areas for rewilding if current patterns of implementation hold in the future. None of these areas, however, coincided reliably with ecosystems of priority for conservation: peatlands, ancient woodlands, or wetlands. Repeatedly, these ecosystems were found to be vulnerable to conversion. Our results are not based on an assumption of support for or benefits from rewilding and do not account for disadvantages, such as potential losses of cultural landscapes or traditional forms of management, that were beyond the modeled ecosystem services. Nevertheless, potential areas for rewilding emerge in a variety of ways, from intensification elsewhere having a substantial but inadvertent land-sparing effect, popular demand for environmental restoration, or a desire for exclusive recreation among the wealthy elite. Our findings therefore imply substantial opportunities for rewilding in the United Kingdom but also a need for interventions to shape the nature and extent of that rewilding to maintain priority conservation areas and societal objectives.

Adoption d’un nouveau cadre mondial pour la biodiversité : bilan critique de la COP 15

ABSTRACT The preparation of a new global framework for the post-2020 period occupied a central place in the intergovernmental negotiations on biodiversity from 2018 to 2022. The framework had to be adopted at the fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity. This article presents a critical analysis of COP 15 based on a recount of past biodiversity governance initiatives at the global scale, a review of the negotiations held from 2018 to 2022, and a comparison of the expectations and results of the conference. The objective is to offer a critical appraisal of COP 15 based on interviews realized during and after the conference with experts and practitioners, as well as a review of the scientific literature and official documentation. The appraisal raises four main critics pertaining to the limits of the targets, governance tools, text clarity, and the approach to the new global framework. The results contribute to the reflection on biodiversity governance, the evaluation of international negotiations, and the discussions on the operationalization and implementation of the new global biodiversity framework.

The past and future of ecosystem restoration in China

For decades, China has implemented restoration programs on a large scale, thanks to its capacity to set policy and mobilize funding resources. An understanding of China's restoration achievements and remaining challenges will help to guide future efforts to restore 30% of its diverse ecosystems under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Here we summarize the major transitions in China's approach to ecosystem restoration since the 1970s, with a focus on the underlying motivations for restoration, approaches to ecosystem management, and financing mechanisms. Whereas China's restoration efforts were predominantly guided by the delivery of certain ecosystem functions and services in earlier decades, more recently it has come to emphasize the restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. Accordingly, the focal ecosystems, approaches, and financing mechanisms of restoration have also been considerably diversified. This evolution is largely guided by the accumulation of scientific evidence and past experiences. We highlight the key challenges facing China's restoration efforts and propose future directions to improve restoration effectiveness, with regard to goal setting, monitoring, stakeholder involvement, adaptive management, resilience under climate change, and financing.

Liberate the power of biodiversity literature as FAIR digital objects

Knowledge about biodiversity is largely embedded in a daily growing corpus of over 500 million pages of biodiversity literature that is not machine-actionable. It is thus not open to building a biodiversity knowledge graph, or facilitating the use of artificial intelligence tools. This hinders the completion of a much-needed taxonomic name reference system, prevents the discovery of the biotic interactions underpinning the prediction and understanding of global change trends and consequences, viral spillovers, annotation of genes with their respective phenotypes, and their citations in various domains dealing with biological species such as conservation, agriculture, medicine, life sciences and industry, necessary to achieve the objectives of the Green Deal and address the targets identified in the Global Biodiversity Framework. This Policy Brief highlights key actions that can liberate the scientific data published, exploit their use , promote an enhanced way to publish, and ultimately foster excellence and innovation in biodiversity science, monitoring and conservation.

Prioritising areas for conservation within Tropical Important Plant Areas of the British Virgin Islands, Caribbean

Oceanic islands are particularly vulnerable to the global decline of biological diversity, suffering disproportionally large losses of endemic species. A primary tool for mitigating species loss is the establishment of protected area networks. The 2030 Global Biodiversity Framework target calls for the protection of 30% of Earth’s land surface by 2030. This study identifies areas within the Tropical Important Plant Areas network of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), to better inform the expansion of the current protected area network with the objective of conserving the BVI’s unique flora. We identified and applied conservation targets for five threatened habitats and 34 species of conservation concern, including four endemic to the BVI. A total of 5,248 georeferenced plant records for the 34 species collected through decades of collaborative work between the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands and the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, along with the distribution of five threatened habitats were used within the decision support system MARXAN to identify four spatial portfolios to guide the expansion of the BVI’s current protected area network. Highlighting the need to expand the current (2007–2017) Protected Areas System Plan in the BVI, we found that the current Plan only covers 15% of terrestrial land and does not meet the conservation targets for plants and habitats. The portfolios identified in our analysis efficiently expand the current Protected Areas System Plan to strategically expand coverage for all conservation features, with two main portfolios reaching all defined conservation targets for protection. Notably, to evaluate options not requiring land purchase, we extracted areas within state-owned Crown land from two main identified portfolios and found that the two Crown land-portfolios could protect 28% and 23% of the BVI, respectively, while meeting the targets for most plants of conservation concern. However, to reach 30% land protection and meet the conservation targets for all plant species, including endemics, private land would need to be considered for this inclusion within the protected area network. Our results provide science-based guidance for the selection of candidate protected area expansion sites that include threatened plants and habitats for reaching the 2030 Biodiversity Framework targets. While systematic conservation planning can provide guidance on protected area expansion, it is important to evaluate and prioritise conservation actions, based on multiple solutions and available resources. We recommend similar approaches are applied more broadly throughout the Caribbean and other archipelagos across the world.

Tinkering While the Arctic Marine Environment Totters: Governance and the Triple Polar Crisis$

After describing how the marine environment is tottering in the face of the triple environmental crisis, this article explores the limited governance progressions at the global and regional levels in addressing the threats of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss in the especially vulnerable Arctic. For pollution, key limitations include slow and arduous processes to add chemicals for control under the Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions and reliance at the regional level on a fragmented array of pollution studies and projects but without specific region-wide legally binding pollution standards. For climate change, the world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement’s temperature targets which is especially problematic for the Arctic cryosphere while the Arctic Council has largely been limited to providing general statements of concern and aspirational calls for enhanced climate mitigation and adaptation actions. For marine biodiversity losses, a pan-Arctic network of marine protected areas has yet to be developed and various implementation challenges surround the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean including the need to ensure adequate financial, human resource and technical support. The paper concludes by highlighting some promising future governance directions. They include: the conclusion of a global treaty on plastic pollution; implementation of a new Global Framework on Chemicals –For a Planet Free of Harm from Chemicals and Waste; expected further clarifications from international tribunals on State responsibilities to address climate change; and regional implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the new agreement under the UN Convention on Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Spatial conservation planning of forest genetic resources in a Mediterranean multi-refugial area

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework recognised the urgency of taking action to conserve intraspecific genetic diversity (IGD) as an insurance against habitat degradation and environmental change. Recent work suggests that 90–99 % of IGD should be conserved to safeguard viability of future generations.Here, we addressed such a conservation issue in three forest tree species in Italy: silver fir (Abies alba Mill.), Heldreich's pine (Pinus heldreichii H. Christ), and pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.). We used microsatellite markers to measure IGD of 36 (A. alba), 15 (P. heldreichii) and 25 (Q. robur) natural sites, including several putative glacial refugia. We developed a spatial conservation planning (SCP) analysis to quantify the genetic irreplaceability of each site and identify the minimum set coverage ensuring IGD protection. Finally, we compared SCP results with the contributions to allelic diversity within and between sites, total allelic diversity and private allelic richness.We found that between 44 % and 73 % of sites were required to conserve 90–99 % of the alleles, and that this conservation effort held even when targeting lower percentages of alleles to protect (50–75 %). Glacial refugia were often included in the minimum set coverage, confirming biogeographical expectations. Finally, sites with high genetic irreplaceability were found to have higher private allelic richness on average. These results are discussed in the light of the biogeographic history of the species studied and the current policies for the conservation of forest genetic resources.

A standard lexicon of terms for area-based conservation version 1.0.

Target 3 in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) calls for protecting at least 30% of the world's lands and waters in area-based conservation approaches by 2030. This ambitious 30×30 target has spurred great interest among policy makers, practitioners, and researchers in defining and measuring the effectiveness of these types of approaches. But along with this broad interest, there has also been a proliferation of terms and their accompanying abbreviations used to describe different types of conservation areas and their governance, planning, management, and monitoring. The lack of standard terms is hindering the use and assessment of area-based approaches to conserve the world's biodiversity. It is difficult to track progress toward GBF Target 3 or to share learning with other practitioners if different groups of people are using different words to describe the same concept or similar words to talk about different concepts. To address this problem, the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Commission on Protected Areas commissioned a task force to review existing terms and recommend a standard English-language lexicon for this field based on key criteria. The results were definitions of 37 terms across 6 categories, including types of protected and additional conservation areas (e.g., protected area, additional conservation area), sets of these areas (protected area network, protected area system), their governance and management (governance, rightsholders), assessment (effectiveness, equitability), spatial planning (key biodiversity area), and action planning (value, outcome, objective). Our standard lexicon can provide a common language for people who want to use it and a shared reference point that can be used to translate various terms used by different groups. The common understanding provided by the lexicon can serve as a foundation for collaborative efforts to improve the policies, implementation, assessments, research, and learning about this important set of conservation approaches.

Challenges and Institutional Barriers to Forest and Landscape Restoration in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh

Preventing, halting, and reversing ecosystem degradation is now a global priority, partly due to the declaration of the United Nations (UN) Decade on Ecosystem Restoration by the UN General Assembly 2021–2030 on 1 March 2019. Apart from the most recent global target to protect 30% of the natural planet by 2030 as part of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed during COP15, there are several other global goals and targets. The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has also pledged to restore 0.75 million hectares of forests as part of the Bonn Challenge. The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh contain almost one-third of the country’s state-owned forests and are home to 12 ethnic communities, whose livelihoods are dependent on forests. Although once rich in biodiversity, the majority of the forests in the region are highly degraded due to faulty management, complex institutional arrangements, and land disputes with locals. The CHT, therefore, represent the most promising region for ecosystem restoration through forest and landscape restoration (FLR). Here, using the secondary literature, we examine the current institutional arrangements and drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in the CHT region and potential benefits and modalities to make FLR successful in the region. Based on our study, we suggest that institutional reform is essential for successful FLR in the CHT. We also discuss key interventions that are necessary to halt ecosystem degradation and to secure community participation in natural resources management in the region.

Harmony in Biodiversity: Spearheading the Global Biodiversity Agenda through National Policy on Biological Diversity (NPBD) 2022-2030

In the heart of Malaysia's commitment to biodiversity conservation, lies a comprehensive strategy encapsulated in the National Policy on Biological Diversity (NPBD) 2022-2030. With five ambitious goals, the policy is a guiding light for the nation, steering stakeholders towards a future where the rich tapestry of ecosystems, species and genetic diversity flourishes. The correlation between this national policy and the global biodiversity framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is evident, providing a robust framework for sustainable development.

Predicting nature recovery for river restoration planning and ecological assessment: A case study from England, 1991–2042

AbstractThe Global Biodiversity Framework established ambitious goals for nature recovery which governments must now incorporate into national legislation. In England, legally binding targets require authorities to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and reverse the decline by 2042. Riverine invertebrates represent a substantial proportion of the species contributing towards the targets. Thus, understanding the response of these species to potential river restoration actions is key to target delivery. We model counts for 188 riverine invertebrate taxa using zero‐inflated generalized Poisson models, applying the models to both inform river restoration planning and set expected values for use in ecological assessment. We identify catchment‐specific restoration strategies that combine one or more actions involving the removal of channel modifications, reductions in nitrate concentrations and reductions in total dissolved phosphorus concentrations as the most likely to deliver species abundance targets across three joint climate–socioeconomic scenarios. By hindcasting species abundances under alternative target frameworks, we also demonstrate a new approach to setting expected values in ecological assessment, accounting for changes in water temperature and hydrology that confound historical reference models presently used by regulators. Our findings represent the first systematic attempt to prioritise major actions to deliver species abundance targets in England, providing valuable insights for policymakers, river restoration practitioners and authorities responsible for monitoring river ecosystems.

Mammal recovery inside and outside terrestrial protected areas.

Protected areas are a key component of global conservation, and the world is aiming to increase protected areas to cover 30% of land and water through the 30 × 30 Initiative under the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. However, factors affecting their success or failure in regard to promoting mammal population recovery are not well studied, particularly using quantitative approaches comparing across diverse taxa, biomes, and countries. To better understand how protected areas contribute to mammalian recovery, we conducted an analysis of 2706 mammal populations both inside and outside of protected areas worldwide. We calculated the annual percent change of mammal populations withinand outside of terrestrial protected areas and examined the relationship between the percent change and a suite of human and natural characteristics including biome, region, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) protected area category, IUCN Red List classification, and taxonomic order. Our results show that overall mammal populations inside and outside of protected areas are relatively stable. It appears that Threatened mammals are doing better inside of protected areas than outside, whereas the opposite is true for species of least concern and Near Threatened species. We also found significant population increases in protected areas classified as category III and significant population decreases in protected and unprotected areas throughout Oceania. Our results demonstrate that terrestrial protected areas can be an important approach for mammalian recovery and conservation.

Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) in Australia: Key Considerations for Assessment and Implementation

Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) have been a feature of global biodiversity targets since 2010 (Aichi Targets, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework), although the concept has only relatively recently been formally defined. Although uptake has been limited to date, there is much interest in identifying OECMs to contribute to the target of protecting at least 30% of terrestrial, freshwater and ocean areas by 2030, in conjunction with protected areas. Australia has a long history of protected area development across public, private and Indigenous lands, but consideration of OECMs in policy has recently begun in that country. We review principles proposed by the Australian Government for OECMs in Australia and highlight where these deviate from global guidance or established Australian area-based policy. We examined various land use categories and conservation mechanisms to determine the likelihood of these categories/mechanisms meeting the OECM definition, with a particular focus on longevity of the mechanism to sustain biodiversity. We identified that the number of categories/mechanisms that would meet the OECM definition is relatively small. A number of potentially perverse outcomes in classifying an area as an OECM are highlighted in order to guide proactive policy and program design to prevent such outcomes occurring.

Global indicators of the environmental impacts of invasive alien species and their information adequacy.

Monitoring the extent to which invasive alien species (IAS) negatively impact the environment is crucial for understanding and mitigating biological invasions. Indeed, such information is vital for achieving Target 6 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. However, to-date indicators for tracking the environmental impacts of IAS have been either lacking or insufficient. Capitalizing on advances in data availability and impact assessment protocols, we developed environmental impact indicators to track realized and potential impacts of IAS. We also developed an information status indicator to assess the adequacy of the data underlying the impact indicators. We used data on 75 naturalized amphibians from 82 countries to demonstrate the indicators at a global scale. The information status indicator shows variation in the reliability of the data and highlights areas where absence of impact should be interpreted with caution. Impact indicators show that growth in potential impacts are dominated by predatory species, while potential impacts from bothpredation and disease transmission are distributed worldwide. Using open access data, the indicators are reproducible and adaptable across scales and taxa and can be used to assess global trends anddistributions of IAS, assisting authorities in prioritizing control efforts and identifying areas at risk of future invasions. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ecological novelty and planetary stewardship: biodiversity dynamics in a transforming biosphere'.

The UK’s 25 Year Plan for the Environment and the Convention on Biological Diversity: Gaps, Synergies and Opportunities

The UK government’s 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment (25YEP), published in 2018, together with annual progress reports and subsequent periodic revisions, represent the most comprehensive and forward-looking single body of environmental legislation for the United Kingdom. The forthcoming update of the UK National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) addressing targets for the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Global Biodiversity Framework to 2030 is also an opportunity to revisit the monitoring framework developed for the 25YEP. Here, we present an evaluation of the goals, targets and indicators of the 25YEP in light of gaps, synergies and opportunities for aligning with the CBD 2030 Framework. We make a number of recommendations for adopting indicators already developed in the context of CBD targets that can also measure progress towards environmental targets within the UK, with a view to more holistic monitoring of biodiversity status and trends. Landscape-scale interventions and, in particular, improvements to farming—exemplified by the new Environmental Land Management Schemes—and fishing policies have the potential for the greatest enhancement to the state of the UK environment and the plants and wildlife within it.

National commitments to Aichi Targets and their implications for monitoring the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

The Convention on Biological Biodiversity (CBD) exists as a major multilateral environmental agreement to safeguard biodiversity and “live in harmony with nature”. To deliver it, strategies and frameworks are set out in regular agreements that are then implemented at the national scale. However, we are not on track to achieve overall goals, and frameworks so far have not been successful. This could be due to unambitious targets, low follow-through on commitments, or desired outcomes for nature not being achieved when action is taken. Here, we focus on national planning and reporting documents from a set of 30% of Parties to the CBD. We found that nearly half of the commitments mentioned in national planning documents did not appear in the Sixth National Reports and that further losses emerged due to measures reported as incomplete or ineffective. There were differences between commitments to each of the Aichi Targets, with more losses in high-profile and “institutionally challenging” Targets. Commitments from Parties in different Human Development Index categories had different outcomes among Targets, and Parties self-identifying as “megadiverse countries” had overall higher rates of reported success. Our results are important for informing the monitoring of commitment implementation in the Kunming-Montreal “global biodiversity package”.

Glaring gaps in tools to estimate businesses’ biodiversity impacts hinder alignment with the Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, in a first-time move, calls for companies and financial institutions to measure and report their impacts on biodiversity. While many tools that measure businesses' biodiversity footprints have recently emerged (“biodiversity indices”), it is unclear whether they really allow companies to measure what the Global Biodiversity Framework requires. Identifying gaps in biodiversity indices concerning the GBF would aid businesses and strengthen its implementation. To fill this gap, here we assessed the degree of the alignment between the indices and the Global Biodiversity Framework. The businesses’ biodiversity indices identified by the European Union Business @ Biodiversity Platform and the Taskforce for Nature Financial Disclosures were selected. A semi-quantitative gap analysis was applied to compare their capabilities against the metrics extracted from the Global Biodiversity Framework. The glaring gaps were found in existing biodiversity indices in the coverage of the metrics needed to support the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework by businesses. Metrics related to ecosystem integrity, connectivity and restoration, nature-based solutions, sea use change, aquatic biodiversity, genetic diversity and resources, the territory and knowledge by Indigenous Peoples, and urban green and blue spaces were insufficiently addressed by most available biodiversity indices. There is an urgent need to develop integrated biodiversity indices if businesses are to effectively measure and disclose their impacts on biodiversity in a way more consistent with the Global Biodiversity Framework.