See how six countries are faring amid efforts to protect 30 percent of the planet’s land and waters by 2030, and what will be saved if they succeed. 

Article by Lindsay Maizland, CFR

Last updated March 6, 2023 1:16 pm (EST)

During the 2022 UN biodiversity conference, COP15, countries reached a landmark agreement that aims to reverse the unprecedented destruction of nature. One of the agreement’s twenty-three targets, known as 30×30, aims to protect at least 30 percent of the planet’s land and water by 2030. That goal, which almost doubles the target for 2020 that was set through the UN process more than a decade ago, was the inspiration behind a 2023 UN agreement to protect biodiversity in the high seas, the international waters that comprise more than half the world’s oceans. So far, nearly 16 percent of all land and inland waters have been protected, as have 8 percent of marine areas. 

Protected areas are those that are designated and managed in order to achieve conservation goals, according to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Human activities, such as farming, resource extraction, and settlement, are generally allowed in these areas as long as they are done sustainably. But there are no formal mechanisms to monitor these activities, and countries report their own progress with limited oversight.

One of the main motivations for the goal is to protect biodiversity, which refers to the variety of all living things on Earth and the natural systems they form. In recent decades, animal populations have plummeted and more species have gone extinct than ever before. This loss has sweeping consequences for livelihoods, economic growth, medicine, food systems, and climate resilience. To put a price on it, the world lost $4–20 trillion per year [PDF] from 1997 to 2011 because of changes in how humans use land, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Conservation is also critical to achieving climate goals. Forests, peatlands, and oceans are carbon sinks, meaning they absorb massive amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide. When they’re destroyed, all that carbon goes back into the atmosphere. Some ecosystems can also guard against climate disasters. Coral reefs and mangroves, for example, form natural barriers against extreme storms.

Protected Areas and Wilderness Around the World

*Land estimated to be habitat unmodified by humans. Areas that are important for biodiversity can occur within and outside of these areas.

Notes: Includes terrestrial areas only. Data for protected areas in China, Estonia, India, Ireland, New Zealand, and Turkey is not complete due to limited reporting.

Sources: Protected Planet; UN Environment Program World Conservation Monitoring Center.

The 30×30 goal is a global target. More than one hundred countries have voiced support, but that doesn’t mean they’ve pledged to protect 30 percent of their own land and waters. Experts say that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “The hope is that each nation will set the most ambitious goal that it can,” says the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Masha Kalinina.

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