Nations Agree to Protect Biodiversity

Scientists have warned for years that with forests and grasslands being lost at unprecedented rates and oceans under pressure from pollution, humans are pushing the Earth beyond safe limits. In December 2022, almost 200 countries agreed on a Global Biodiversity Framework at the United Nations’ COP15 (fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity). The historic agreement is hope for real progress to halt biodiversity loss. The framework commits nations to protect 30 percent of the world's lands, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans by 2030, increase financing for nature restoration and protection, halt human-induced extinction and protect the rights of indigenous people, among other measures. The protections will emphasize areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services.

Throughout the talks there was division over the strength of the measure and how to finance it. In a statement released by the Wildlife Conservation Society, vice president of international policy Susan Lieberman said, “The [framework] is a compromise and although it has several very good and hard-fought elements, it could have gone further to truly transform our destructive relationship with nature." During negotiations, some countries called for a new fund to be set up to help preserve biodiversity, but this recommendation was not included in the final framework.