Analysing scientific literature, the report by UNEP and IUCN finds that nature-based solutions (NbS) can deliver emission reductions and removals of at least 5 gigatons of CO2 per year by 2030, and at least 10 gigatons by 2050 on a conservative basis. The report highlights that this contribution from nature, in addition to the rapid decarbonisation of the global economy, can play a significant role in reaching the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to below 1.5°C. To fulfil this potential, NbS require additional funding and must be implemented according to strict standards.

The new report, ‘Nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation‘, authored by experts from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), analyses and summarises existing peer-reviewed literature and other published sources on the potential of nature-based solutions to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removing carbon from the atmosphere.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) can deliver emission reductions and removals of at least 5 gigatons of CO2 per year by 2030

NbS that can help mitigate climate change include actions to protect natural ecosystems from loss and degradation, restore ecosystems that have been degraded, and more sustainably manage working lands such as fields and managed forests.

Interpreting the existing scientific evidence cautiously, and taking into account associated uncertainties as well as the time needed to deploy safeguards, the report finds that by 2030, nature-based solutions implemented across all ecosystems can deliver emission reductions and removals of at least 5 GtCO2e per year, with a maximum estimate of 11.7 GtCO2e per year. By 2050, this rises to at least 10 GtCO2e per year, of a maximum estimate of 18 GtCO2e per year.

The largest share of this contribution (circa 62 per cent) is estimated to come from nature-based solutions related to forests, with circa 24 per cent from solutions in grasslands and croplands, and 10 per cent from additional solutions in peatlands. The remaining 4 per cent will come from solutions implemented in coastal and marine ecosystems.

For nature-based solutions to deliver their potential benefits, they will have to be implemented fairly and equitably, upholding the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, and in a way that respects strict social and environmental safeguards to avoid harm, for instance through adherence to the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions.

The contribution from nature-based solutions needs additional finance. This will require action by and close coordination between both public and private actors. It is essential that where the private sector purchases nature-based solutions offsets as part of their pathways to achieve net zero, these offsets not only be in accordance with social and environmental safeguards, but that they form a small part of a mitigation strategy focused primarily on deep decarbonisation. The development of rules and guidance in this area is now underway.

One example of such an effort is the Green Gigaton Challenge (launched in November 2020 by UNEP, UN-REDD, Emergent, Forest Trends, Environmental Defense Fund and Architecture of REDD+ Transactions) to mobilize resources to finance one gigaton of high-quality emission reductions from forests by 2025 through a coalition of private and public sector actors as well as civil society.

While the report’s focus is on the significance of the role of nature-based solutions in climate mitigation, it also highlights that, when done well, these can deliver other critical benefits, including for climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation. It also stresses that nature-based solutions must not be seen in isolation. Achieving the Paris Agreement goal will require, above all, a rapid, ambitious and sustained abatement of fossil fuels and other industrial emissions, as called for by the latest science. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration,  which has the aim to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide between 2021 and 2030, will provide vital support and coordination to the transparent scaling up of Nature-based Solutions.

Nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation is published 5th of November 2021 by UNEP and IUCN.

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Chengdu – the capital city of Sichuan Province, in the central South Western China – is home to more than 20 million people and is a regional hub for the movement of goods, services and people. Chengdu is also taking a pioneering approach to placing nature at the heart of development. 

In recent years, economic growth has allowed Chengdu to expand trade ties both domestically and internationally; the city now has a GDP equivalent to almost 267 billion USD. Such growth brings prosperity and opportunities, but also comes at a cost.

Changing priorities for Chengdu

Like many other large cities around the world, Chengdu faces issues of air and water pollution, traffic congestion, and an increasingly degraded natural environment. 

Alongside economic growth, Chengdu’s residents have also been experiencing increased income and changing lifestyles. They are also increasingly paying attention to quality of life more broadly, including access to a healthy environment. 

To tackle these challenges and meet residents’ increasing demand for healthy environment, Chengdu is pioneering investments in ecological or green infrastructure projects. This includes creating an ecological zone known as the ‘Green Belt’. The Green Belt, with a total area of nearly 188 km-2, covers land within 500 meters on both sides of the belt expressway, and the suburban lands between the seven new districts should be mainly used for protection and improvement of ecological environment in the central urban area.

These measures are intended to maximise the benefits of this green ring to the city and its residents.

Learning more about the benefits nature brings

With all this taking place at home, the Chengdu Municipal Government sought to understand how it can improve the project designs to address the city’s ecological, social and economic needs.

They also wanted to better understand how ecological development can contribute to some of urbanisation’s most pressing challenges.  

Chengdu worked with UN-Habitat and UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), under the umbrella of the Greener Cities Partnership to help address these questions.

3 steps to boost nature’s contribution in Chengdu

 In 2017, experts from UN-Habitat and UNEP-WCMC were invited to visit four sites along Chengdu’s Green Belt. Following the visit, they made 3 key recommendations to the Chengdu Government:

1: Articulate Chengdu’s role in delivering national and international priorities 

 By understanding and developing a policy narrative around how Chengdu’s green projects and policies can contribute to local, national, and global goals, Chengdu can change its traditional development pathways and demonstrate the role that cities can play to benefit people and planet.

2: Develop a framework to measure and monitor the effectiveness of investment in nature. 

Chengdu can develop a guiding framework for the city to regularly monitor how its investments into green infrastructure projects have been generating ecological, social and economic returns. Regularly monitoring results will provide strong support for Chengdu Municipal Government’s future planning within the Green Belt project, as well as generating evidence and incentives for maintaining long-term commitment and encouraging actions from the private sector.  

3: Joint learning with other cities

The report’s third recommendation is for Chengdu to interact more actively with other cities and institutes internationally through relevant city networks and initiatives. This will help Chengdu to share experiences and lessons learned, and make Chengdu more visible internationally in terms of the city’s work and intentions in exploring sustainable futures. The visibility will provide Chengdu with greater opportunities to be supported by the world’s most innovative research and policy projects.

Cities for the future

Cities – through the way they use and invest in nature, within and around their administrative boundaries – can demonstrate international leadership, contributing to their countries’ commitments for achieving climate, biodiversity and Sustainable Development Goals.  

Local governments have the power and potential to choose different development pathways, especially where they are still rapidly growing like Chengdu. Achieving this will need new approaches solutions, bringing together urban planners, climate scientists, ecologists, sociologists, environmental economists and more. 

Such a change is not only desirable – it is also possible as more and more cities come to recognise the values of nature and their crucial role in protecting it.   

The full report, Chengdu Report: Our future lies with nature, is a jointly produced by UN-Habitat and UNEP-WCMC and will be published shortly.

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Scientists from the Greifswald Mire Centre, the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and from several European countries have teamed up to analyse the condition and protection status of European mire ecosystems in research published in Diversity.

Peatlands are vital habitats and store vast stocks of carbon; they have a crucial role in addressing the twin climate and biodiversity crises. In an intact peatland, carbon stores slowly accumulate, but when these ecosystems are degraded by drainage, fire or other pressures, they become a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Europe is the continent with the largest proportional loss of mires, because of its long history, high population pressure, and conversion to agriculture.

The European countries with the highest proportion of degraded peatland (91%–100%) are Albania, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, and Slovenia. Countries and areas with the most intact peatlands (less than 20% degraded) are Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Norway, and Svalbard.

Franziska Tanneberger, lead author of the study at Greifswald Mire Centre, underlines: “Peatlands still suffer from the ‘Cinderella effect’. Whether in the inventory reporting to the climate convention (UNFCCC) or in biodiversity assessment, the area and importance of peatlands is very often underestimated. The reason is simply that we now perceive drained peatlands as grassland, cropland or forest land. Therefore, it is great that we have been able to carry out such an analysis in partnership with UNEP-WCMC”.

The authors also found a large variety in the proportion of peatlands included in protected areas across Europe. Less than 25% are included in Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Norway, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine. More than 95% of national peatlands are within protected areas in Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Denmark.

This analysis comes just ahead of the UN Climate summit in Glasgow and as preparations continue towards agreeing a new post-2020 global biodiversity framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Lera Miles, co-author of the paper at UNEP-WCMC, says: “Protecting and restoring peatlands is key to achieving global goals on tackling the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.  Improving our understanding of where peatlands are degraded, and where they are protected is key to ensuring that conservation action is targeted and effective. Even in some protected areas, degraded peatlands may need to be restored.”

Dianna Kopansky, Global Peatlands Coordinator from UNEP echoes these important findings: “A lack of understanding of peatlands’ vital role in the European landscape, combined with outdated policies and perverse incentives, means that peatlands continue to be drained and damaged. Peatlands are our largest terrestrial organic carbon stock, and if we are to meet our global goals and commitments, we must work hard to understand, protect, restore, and sustainably manage these vital ecosystems, including across Europe.”

This important analysis will feed into the Global Peatlands Initiative’s Global Peatland Assessment, which is currently under preparation and coordinated by UNEP-WCMC, UN Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the Greifswald Mire Centre.

Mires in Europe—Regional Diversity, Condition and Protection is published in Diversity on the 16th of August 2021. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/d13080381  

___________________________

This is part of the Global Peat Press Project (GP3) campaign, bringing together international partners to highlight the importance of peatlands as vulnerable but valuable ecosystems. It is a coordinated media campaign from the UNEP’s Global Peatlands Initiative (GPI) and the North Pennines AONB Partnership to promote the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) and toward the UNFCCC COP 26 through the work of organisations throughout Europe and beyond.

A relay of stories from peatland projects worldwide started with the UK as the host of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, taking place in Glasgow in November. The relay has already featured the North Pennines AONB, the Care-Peat project in Belgium, NUI Galway, five EU transnational projects (Carbon Connects, Care-Peat, DESIRE, LIFE Peat Restore, and CANAPE), Bax & Company who straddle the UK, Spain and The Netherlands, The Lancashire Wildlife Trust, The GPI and EUROSITE Peatlands Social Media Campaign, NABU, Moors for the Future Partnership, Metsähallitus with its Hydrology LIFE Project, Natural Resources Wales and the LIFE Welsh Raised Bogs Project, Community Wetlands Forum and Landscape Finance Lab, Geospatial Insight-Terra Motion, Green Restoration Ireland Coop (GRI), a major restoration effort in Belarus recognized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus, Ulster Wildlife, and now the baton has again landed in the UK.

 Join us – share, learn, inspire, experience and act for peatlands, people and the planet. Follow and share using #PeatlandsMatter and #GenerationRestoration

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The National Ecosystem Assessment Initiative (NEA Initiative) at UNEP-WCMC launched a new website to support countries undertaking ecosystem assessments.

The new online platform hosts a range of resources produced by the NEA Initiative and its partners, including webinars, guidance documents, reports, case-studies and lessons learned.

Facilitating online support and knowledge-exchange

Since 2017, the NEA Initiative has worked with 14 countries to conduct or scope their national ecosystem assessments. Through this new website, the Initiative is building capacity and fostering knowledge exchange between existing partners and the broader community of practice on national ecosystem assessments.

The NEA Initiative’s website aims to:

1. Present and promote the national ecosystem assessment process
2. Raise the profile of the NEA Initiative’s country partners and their assessments
3. Facilitate free access to a range of resources, including guides, workshops and webinars, case-studies, and reports to support anyone undertaking or interested in national ecosystem assessments
4. Publish regular updates on news and events from across the NEA Initiative, including public events made available through the Sub-Global Assessment Network (SGAN)

Supporting national ecosystem assessments around the world

The NEA Initiative supports countries across 5 continents conducting national ecosystem assessments to empower the consideration of the full value of nature in decision-making. This support is delivered in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) under the umbrella of the Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net).

A national ecosystem assessment is a nationally-driven process to develop an up-to-date, comprehensive and critical synthesis of knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem services and its interlinkages to people. It is a stakeholder-driven process that is tailored to suit country needs, and it is framed around key policy questions to support national decision-making processes on the conservation and sustainable use of nature.

National ecosystem assessments lay out the status and trends on biodiversity and ecosystem services in a given country, their drivers of change, the impacts those drivers are having now and in the future, and the effectiveness of interventions and responses. The assessment process aims to engage with a diverse range of authors and multiple knowledge systems, including knowledge that is held by indigenous peoples and local communities.

Learn more about national ecosystem assessments and the NEA Initiative.

Join the Sub-Global Assessment Network and stay up-to-date on the latest events and resources. 

The National Ecosystem Assessment Initiative at UNEP-WCMC is part of the Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net), working in partnership with UNDP and UNESCO. Financial support was provided by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of the Federal Republic of Germany.

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Developed jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and the Secretariat of the UN Biodiversity Convention, the launch highlighted strong partnerships, and included an announcement from Microsoft of its commitment to support the digital ecosystem of UNBL with their Planetary Computer and custom analytics as digital public goods. 

“The UN Biodiversity Lab will enable anyone to access state-of-the-art spatial data and dynamic indicators that will generate brand-new insights into conservation and sustainable development,” says UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner. “And crucially, the lab will provide decision-makers with access to over 400 spatial data layers across biodiversity, climate change, and development – helping them to identify new opportunities to act in the best interest of both people and planet.”

The UNBL 2.0 release responds to a known global gap in the types of spatial data and tools, providing an invaluable resource to nations around the world to take transformative action. Users can now access over 400 of the world’s best available global spatial data layers; create secure workspaces to incorporate national data alongside global data; use curated data collections to generate insight for action; and more. Without specialized tools or training, decision-makers can leverage the power of spatial data to support priority-setting and the implementation of nature-based solutions. Dynamic metrics and indicators on the state of our planet are also available.

 “The UN Biodiversity Lab brings together a strong coalition of partners, data providers, and technological innovators to support the creation of a digital ecosystem for the planet. As an advocate for the environment, UNEP has a key role to play in providing information on the state of nature and to deepen the science-policy linkages. We are firmly committed to this partnership so that policymakers can effectively use open data in spatial planning to deliver on the Paris Agreement and the post-2020 global biodiversity framework,” stated Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

 “UNBL has the potential to provide critical resources to support Parties in national reporting of biodiversity indicators under the emerging post-2020 global biodiversity framework and also for the revision, implementation and monitoring of national biodiversity plans,” stated Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary of the UN Biodiversity Convention.

UNBL was first launched in 2018 to support governments in their commitments to the UN Biodiversity Convention, leading to a two-fold increase in the number of maps used in countries’ national reports on the state of biodiversity. UNBL 2.0 is now available in English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. The redesign offers modern web app design and enhanced functionalities based on user feedback, including more data, enhanced analytic capabilities, and analyses that support action at the national level.

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Our global food systems are in urgent need of transformation for the sake of people and nature, and if we are to succeed, businesses have a crucial role to play.

The recently published GEO for Business Brief 3, ‘The role of business in transforming food systems’, sets out the case for food system transformation, and clear actions for businesses at all scales to make a positive contribution.

A broken global food system

Access to food underpins the health and wellbeing of all people, everywhere. However, our current global food systems have developed unsustainably, contributing to significant social and environmental issues.

While many people around the world do not have enough food to eat, a third of all food produced globally is still lost or wasted at some point along the value chain, generating 8–10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Unsustainable practices in our food systems contribute to the twin climate and nature crises; they are responsible for 70 per cent of biodiversity loss and generating between 21 and 37 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In turn, the climate and nature crises also make our food systems more unstable. The resilience of food systems is under growing threat from soil degradation, pollinator loss, water scarcity, extreme weather events and increased susceptibility to loss from pests and disease.

Transforming our food systems is key to both securing a better future for nature, and achieving more equitable lives for people worldwide.

Nature-positive food systems

In order to succeed in creating more sustainable food systems that can feed the world and are also based on nature-positive models, action is needed across all of society, including by business.

The Brief’s authors identify key steps for businesses to take:

• Collaborate with partners across your supply chain and within the landscapes from which you source and operate, to accelerate the application of regenerative practices.
• Reformulate existing product portfolios and develop new product offerings to support a more balanced, plant-rich diet with a lower environmental footprint.
• Adopt a company-wide target in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3, measure and report food waste using the Food Waste Index, and develop and implement a strategy that targets food loss and waste hotspots, works collaboratively across supply chains to eliminate rather than shift waste, and empowers end consumers to reduce waste at home.

Bringing benefits to businesses

The third GEO for Business brief is clear that: “Businesses have a crucial role to play in enabling this transformation, immaterial of their size or role within a food system. They can realize significant opportunities to deliver business value by making their supply chains and business models more resilient, protecting themselves from both chronic environmental change and systemic shocks, as well as cutting costs by reducing food loss and waste.”

The UN Food Systems Summit on September 23 will set the stage for global food systems transformation, which is key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Now and over the coming years, action is needed across all of society to enable fairer and more sustainable access to food, including through achieving the goals and targets of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

Speaking at the launch of the GEO for Business brief last week, Joyce Msuya, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, said: “Businesses embracing sustainable practices that work with nature, reduce waste, and encourage circularity will be heralded as the pioneers of the new economy.”

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But what does ‘protected’ mean? The newly published MPA Guide helps policymakers and practitioners understand the level and type of protection an MPA can offer.

Different interpretations of ‘protection’

MPAs are defined by IUCN as areas whose primary objective is the conservation of nature. However, there are different interpretations of what the term ‘protected’ means. In reality, there are many types of MPAs, with a wide range of goals, expectations, and degrees of effectiveness in the water.

Some MPAs allow no extraction at all, while others permit almost all types of extraction, such as mining, fishing, or dredging. Some MPAs are in place in the water and have active management plans, while others exist only on paper. The conservation outcomes from one MPA type will differ from another, and many MPAs are not set up or functioning to achieve their stated goals.

This inconsistency can lead to false expectations about the impact that can be expected from any particular MPA and different conclusions about how much of the ocean is currently ‘protected’. Diverging views can obscure real progress and distract attention from the goal of achieving a healthy ocean for the benefit of both people and nature.

5 insights from the MPA Guide

The MPA Guide is a science-based tool and framework helping practitioners and policymakers to understand what level and type of protection is in place, and what outcomes they can expect for people and nature.

Here are 5 ways the MPA Guide can help enhance our understanding of MPAs:

1. The Guide distinguishes between 4 stages of establishment of an MPA: Proposed/Committed, Designated, Implemented, and Actively Managed.
2. The Guide diagnoses the level of protection an MPA offers, based on the type and intensity of activities that are allowed to occur within the MPA: Fully protected, Highy protected, Lightly protected, and Minimally protected.
3. The Guide also details the enabling conditions that are essential for MPAs to move from one stage of establishment to the next. Examples include sustainable financing, clear objectives, and consideration of existing threats and mitigation.
4. The Guide then links these elements to clarify what social and ecological outcomes can be expected from an MPA at a particular stage and level, assuming the enabling conditions are in place.
5. The MPA Guide helps to illuminate what protection we have and what is still needed to meet global to local goals. This framework provides the tools to design and update MPAs for effective protection.

The Guide is authored by 43 marine and social scientists from 39 institutions across 6 continents, with input from many hundreds of stakeholders from around the world.

Over the coming years, UNEP-WCMC will continue to work with partners of The MPA Guide, and many others, to explore how this framework can complement the Protected Planet Initiative as part of an overarching effort to gain a better insight into the extent to which protected and conserved areas are achieving positive outcomes for people and nature.

Learn more about The MPA Guide here

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The new ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) Tools Navigator aims to tackle this challenge and guide users through more than 200 tools that can support their work and expand EbA.  

Adapting with nature 

EbA is a nature-based approach that uses biodiversity and ecosystem services to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. For example, protecting and restoring forests to help stabilize the soil and reduce the risk of landslides during intense rainfall, and expanding green spaces in cities to reduce heat stress during heatwaves.  

As we face the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, EbA can help to tackle both, together. 

Making EbA tools more accessible 

There are two main features to the Navigator – a searchable database and a space for users to contribute with their own tools or tool experiences:  

• In the search interface, users can find tools and methodologies for specific needs by customizing their search using different criteria, for example according to ecosystem type, EbA stage or scale of implementation. The results generated provide information about each tool, including a link to the tool website, detailed descriptions that include its aims and functions, and how it can be used.
• The contribute feature allows users to add information to the platform. Users can submit tools not yet included in the database, or report on their own experiences using a particular tool. Information can be provided on the context a given tool was used in, whether it was easy to use or not, or its barriers and strengths.  

By bringing this information together and making it more accessible, the EbA Tools Navigator helps users to see the range of tools that are available to support EbA and to choose one that fits their needs. 

Elisabeth Bernhardt, coordinator of UNEP’s Global Adaptation Network, said: “Tools like this are incredibly valuable for countries to be able to tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. We’re proud UNEP could include it in our newly launched Guidelines for Integrating Ecosystem-Based Adaptation into National Adaptation Plans.”  

An earlier version of the Navigator was released in 2019. Now as it moves online, we encourage EbA practitioners and planners to use the Navigator for their own work.  

The EbA Tools Navigator has been developed by UNEP-WCMC, IIED, IUCN and GIZ as part of the project ‘Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation: strengthening the evidence and informing policy’ which is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.

The EbA Tools Navigator is administered by UNEP-WCMC and is hosted by Friends of EbA (FEBA) 

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A team of leading researchers have produced global maps for the six main threats affecting terrestrial amphibians, birds and mammals: agriculture, hunting and trapping, logging, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. Results show that agriculture and logging are pervasive in the tropics and that hunting and trapping is the most geographically widespread threat to mammals and birds. There are sizeable continental areas in which there is more than a 50% chance that any particular amphibian, mammal or bird species is threatened by logging, hunting and trapping, agriculture, invasive species or climate change.

The world is facing a global nature crisis, yet information about the location and intensity of the threats responsible for biodiversity loss remains limited. Information on the spatial intensity of threats and how they affect species on the ground is critically important to improving and targeting conservation responses. This study presents both a first attempt to map this information and a research track to improve our understanding of how threats to biodiversity vary across the world.

Using the IUCN Red List to map threats to terrestrial vertebrates at global scale identifies the most prevalent threat for each taxa. It finds that agriculture is the greatest threat to amphibians, being the most prevalent threat to these species across 44% of global lands. For birds and mammals, hunting and trapping are most prevalent, ranking as the highest threat across 50% of land for birds and 73% of land for mammals. Agriculture is the most prevalent threat for amphibians, mammals, and birds combined.

The research also identifies locations where threats are particularly prevalent. In Southeast Asia, particularly the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, as well as Madagascar, there is a high risk of impact from all six threats to amphibians, birds, and mammals. For amphibians, Europe stood out as a region of high threat impact due to a combination of agriculture, invasive species and pollution. Polar regions, the east coast of Australia and South Africa are most likely to be impacted by climate change, affecting birds in particular.

Dr. Mike Harfoot, one of the two lead authors of the paper, UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), says: “We are facing a global nature crisis, and the next ten years is a crucial window for taking decisive action to tackle biodiversity loss. Our results reveal the location and intensity of human-caused threats to nature. This information can support decision-makers at a range of levels in identifying where action to reduce these threats could yield the best results for people and planet. With further work, we will improve this information in terms of accuracy and the breadth of nature considered.”

To help guide conservation action, the authors also combined threat impact data with spatial information on biodiversity importance to create conservation risk maps that identify high priority areas for threat mitigation. These maps are one tool that can support and inform decision-making on national and other levels as appropriate. The areas identified include the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, the east coast of Australia, the dry forest of Madagascar, the Albertine Rift and East Arc Mountains in eastern Africa, the Guinean forests of West Africa, the Atlantic Forest, the Amazon basin and the Northern Andes into Panama and Costa Rica in South and Central America.

Dr. Jonas Geldmann, Assistant Professor, Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen, and co-lead author of this paper says: “These maps also reveal that priority areas for one threat rarely overlap with that of other threats, meaning that to effectively respond to the current human impact on biodiversity we need a global response.”

Dr. Piero Visconti, a study co-author who leads the Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation Research Group at IIASA, says: “Despite ubiquitous sensors and advanced technology, we still know so little about the exact location and intensity of some of the most important threats to species such as hunting and trapping and the presence of invasive species. On-the-ground surveys are irreplaceable to have an accurate local picture of the distribution and impacts of these threats, but they are challenging and resource-intensive, therefore difficult to do at the scale at which some conservation decisions are made. This analysis is an important first step that can help efficiently direct local assessments of specific threats to terrestrial biodiversity, and start identifying the most appropriate local solutions.”

In 2022, the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will meet in Kunming, China, and is expected to adopt a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, a new global plan for nature. The research released today helps to demonstrate the various types and geographic breadth of the threats to terrestrial species, and so the scale of the challenge for transformation that the framework must deliver if we are to conserve life on Earth.

Using the IUCN Red List to map threats to terrestrial vertebrates at global scale is published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

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As governments convene to discuss the new global goals for nature, UNEP-WCMC is launching a new Post-2020 Indicators website to support the ongoing negotiation process, in collaboration with the Secretariat to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), NatureServe and GEO BON.

This week, the CBD Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) is starting its discussions on the first draft of post-2020 global biodiversity framework and its ambitions for nature. Underpinning this framework will be a transparent monitoring mechanism to understand progress towards its global ambitions. The Post-2020 Indicators site aims to facilitate and inform discussion on measurable goals and targets. 

The first draft of the framework was published last month, proposing four long-term goals to be reached by 2050 and related milestones for which progress will be assessed in 2030. The draft framework also includes 21 action-oriented targets, aiming to catalyse urgent national action to conserve nature and the essential benefits it provides to people.

New Post-2020 Indicators site supports negotiations for the monitoring framework 

The Post-2020 Indicators site is a knowledge hub providing those negotiating the new framework with the best and most up to date information available on nature indicators in order to aid decision-making and negotiation. 

“The site gives an overview of available data and metrics to allow all nations – and the world – to measure progress towards ambitions for biodiversity over the coming decade,” says Neil Burgess, Chief Scientist at UNEP-WCMC. 

Post-2020 Indicators provides information for negotiators and others to understand:

• Whether information on the proposed indicators is readily available or in need of investment/ development 
• The institutional responsibilities for delivering the indicator 
• Their global range 
• The extent to which information is compiled from national sources 
• How frequently data underpinning the indicators are updated 
• The time series for the data 

Other information includes the use of indicators by other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), their inclusion in CBD national reports, and whether indicators meet the standards of the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (BIP) or are used as Essential biodiversity Variables by GEO BON.

Achieving “living in harmony with nature” by 2050

The post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is on track to be adopted by the Conference of the Parties (COP) during their fifteenth meeting in Kunming, China. It is vital that countries decide on the approach to monitor progress towards the global framework at the outset, so that measurement can begin as soon the post-2020 framework is adopted by countries worldwide.

The Framework is a crucial document which governments and civil society will refer to in the next decades to bend the curve of biodiversity loss, drive its recovery, and consequently contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

Neville Ash, Director of UNEP-WCMC, says: “Delivering on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework is key to our future on Earth. In order for the world to meet future ambitions for nature we will need to be able to monitor our collective progress. The Post-2020 Indicator site is a key source of information to support decisions on measurable goals and targets and how we can track our progress towards them.” 

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