COP17: We are doing more than ever for biodiversity worldwide, but it is not enough yet

In 2022, at the 15th CBD COP, the conference agreed on a set of 23 biodiversity targets to be achieved by 2030: the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Now, four years later, it is time to take stock. ‘The first version of the progress report shows that, although we are making progress globally, we will not meet the biodiversity targets by 2030,’ says Jelle Behagel, associate professor in the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group. He is one of the scientists travelling on behalf of Wageningen University & Research to the summit in Armenia, which will begin on 19 October.

‘Internationally, biodiversity is receiving more attention than ever, but efforts still do not match the scale of the challenge,’ says Behagel. ‘Of the 23 biodiversity targets in the GBF, only target 8 is seeing meaningful action. This target aims to minimise the impact of climate change on biodiversity.’
What does Behagel think UN member states will discuss at the 17th biodiversity summit in light of this report? ‘Much needs to happen to bring the other biodiversity targets within reach too. Key issues will be how biodiversity protection is funded and how the nature-friendly traditions of local and Indigenous communities can be maintained. Cooperation with other UN summits is also on the agenda.’

‘Most large ecosystems, which are often also more intact, are in the Global South, where nature is also at its most diverse,’ explains Behagel. ‘Does that also mean those countries should bear the cost of protecting that nature? Biodiversity conservation is in everyone’s interest.’ When it comes to funding nature conservation, delegates from the Global South often point to a 1992 agreement. ‘That was when the UN agreed to create new financial instruments – funds – to support countries in the Global South. Some instruments have been added since then, but the countries say they are inadequate or too cumbersome to use.’

Moreover, national parks and protected areas alone will not be enough if the UN is to meet the GBF’s targets by 2030, Behagel says. ‘That is why other effective conservation methods, such as nature-friendly farming or traditional land use, are also receiving increasing attention. Local and Indigenous communities were already recognised for their important contributions to nature conservation at COP15 and COP16. Now, two years later, the question is precisely which communities the UN means and how it can help protect their knowledge and traditions.’

Behagel himself is involved in research into supporting local and Indigenous communities. Together with Bas Verschuuren, he is the scientific coordinator of the ABC Futures project. As part of the project, five chair groups in Wageningen and one in Utrecht are spending five years studying the external pressures that make it difficult for Indigenous Peoples to maintain their traditions. ‘In Suriname, for example, Indigenous people practice shifting cultivation on small, temporary plots in the forest,’ explains Behagel. ‘This centuries-old, nature-friendly practice is now threatened by logging and mining.’

‘Logging creates clearings in the forest where water does not drain properly. Mosquitoes that can spread disease breed in the pools of standing water. At the same time, mining operations use mercury to separate gold from impurities. This substance poisons the local drinking water, which usually comes from the river. One of our PhD students is now investigating how these conditions affect the health of Indigenous communities and the natural environment.’ In addition to Suriname, ABC Futures also conducts research in Brazil, Mexico, Mozambique and Kenya. ‘In Brazil, for example, we look at the governance of landscapes where nature parks, Indigenous territories and large-scale agriculture meet.’

There is often still little collaboration between nature conservation organisations and Indigenous communities. ‘Little attention is paid to the importance of local culture for nature conservation,’ says Behagel. ‘Traditional practices are often more closely connected to nature and can help conserve it, but supporting those traditions requires different kinds of measures. Sometimes a new village hall does more good than a new national park.’

‘The 1992 sustainability conference in Rio de Janeiro gave us not only a biodiversity summit, but also summits on climate change and desertification,’ explains Behagel. ‘These issues are not really separate from one another.’ The impacts of climate change, such as wildfires and floods, can severely damage ecosystems, and rising temperatures can even make it impossible for some ecosystems to survive. Ecosystems, in turn, act as buffers against climate change: tundra and oceans store CO2, and healthy, diverse vegetation helps prevent mudslides. ‘When ecosystems lose their resilience, we feel the effects of climate change all the more strongly.’

‘That is why it is important for these three summits to work more closely together, because even now, thirty years later, there is still too little cooperation,’ says Behagel. ‘Their goals cannot be achieved in isolation from one another.’ Cooperation is therefore on the agenda at CBD COP17. ‘At the 17th summit on desertification, countries were already calling for work on integrated solutions: solutions that not only promote biodiversity, but also combat climate change and desertification.’

CBD COP17 takes place in Yerevan, Armenia. The summit officially opens on 19 October and runs until 30 October. The latest resolutions will be adopted on that scheduled final day.