A draft UN report on progress toward the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework indicates that most nations are underperforming on their commitments to address biodiversity loss by the end of the decade. The assessment, released in late July ahead of preparatory talks, evaluated progress across 23 targets that countries agreed to in 2022. The report will be finalized before the nature summit COP17, scheduled for October in Armenia, where countries will conduct a comprehensive review of their advancement toward global nature goals.
The draft report contains stark findings about implementation gaps. Only one target, which addresses minimizing climate change impacts on biodiversity through mitigation and adaptation, received a fully positive assessment. The remaining 22 targets showed varying degrees of insufficient progress. The report identifies two primary obstacles: national plans and targets submitted by countries do not fully reflect the ambition of global commitments, and implementation efforts remain inadequate. Particular challenges emerge in addressing indirect drivers of biodiversity loss, such as harmful subsidies and business practices, as well as protecting marine, coastal, and inland water ecosystems.
Financial shortfalls represent a critical constraint. Countries aim to close a $700 billion biodiversity funding gap by 2030 through subsidy elimination and resource mobilization. However, progress on mobilizing the required $200 billion annually from global sources has proven insufficient. Between 2020 and 2023, nations raised only $4.4 billion per year in international public funding for biodiversity, far below the $20 billion target for 2025. Domestic spending, while larger at $135.9 billion cumulatively over four years, has declined as a percentage of national GDP. Private finance has also underperformed, peaking in 2021 and declining subsequently.
Specific biodiversity targets face substantial implementation barriers. The “30 by 30” commitment to protect 30 percent of land and sea remains hampered by insufficient finance and capacity constraints. Ecosystem restoration efforts are expanding but fall below required levels, with monitoring complicated by inconsistent definitions across countries. Progress on identifying and reforming harmful subsidies has been slow, with only 38 percent of countries addressing the 2025 deadline to identify such subsidies. Efforts to share benefits from genetic resources and traditional knowledge have been limited, with the Cali Fund established at COP16 receiving minimal contributions.
The report documents varied capacity gaps affecting implementation. Developing nations report insufficient access to financial resources, technical assistance, and technology transfer. Many countries acknowledge that biodiversity spending loses out to competing development priorities including defense, food security, and infrastructure. Data collection challenges persist across multiple targets, constraining the ability to assess progress accurately. Despite these setbacks, the report notes that the framework has generated unprecedented interest in addressing biodiversity loss and that action on all 23 targets is underway, suggesting that rapid acceleration of efforts could yet bring progress toward meeting the 2030 goals.
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