Addressing the conservation
crisis: seven takeaways
from COP 15

allianzgi.com

January 2023

With a race against time to save many of the world’s species from extinction,
countries around the world agreed a plan at the recent COP 15 meeting to
respond to the conservation crisis. But the agreement’s success depends onstrong collaboration by all stakeholders, with a focus on aligning financial
flows with global biodiversity targets and tackling climate change andbiodiversity loss as two parts of the same crisis.
Mélissa Bourassi
Sustainability
AnalystGlobal conservation efforts have received amomentous boost after the recent agreementof a major action plan to stop the decline innature. But the success of the deal – dubbed
the “Paris moment for nature” – hinges on
securing funding to reverse biodiversity loss inthe coming decades.
After four years of negotiation and a fortnightof intense debate, the UN COP 15 Biodiversity
Conference in Montreal ended in December
2022 with the adoption by 196 countries of
the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework(GBF)1, setting out a variety of conservation
targets. The pledges are ambitious, but theyneed to be. More than one million animaland plant species are threatened withextinction – many within a period of decades,according to the UN. 2 Climate change has
attracted much government and investor focus
in recent years. The latest agreement provides
biodiversity with the springboard for an equalbilling to climate in 2023. Here are our sevenobservations about the deal:

Value. Shared.

Key takeaways– Four years of negotiation leading up
to COP 15 in December 2022 – anda fortnight of intense debate –culminated in a deal equivalent to the
1.5 degrees Celsius agreement forclimate achieved in Paris in 20153.
– The highest-profile target seeks toensure the effective conservationand management of at least 30% of
terrestrial, inland water, and coastal
and marine areas by 20301.
– But the pledge to triple the current
international aid for biodiversity by
2030 4 may be insufficient to fightbiodiversity loss.
– In the future, we think there needs
to be a stronger link between
biodiversity protection and climatetransition.

Addressing the conservation crisis: seven takeaways from COP 15

1. The 30 by 30 agreement: a Paris momentfor nature
The highest-profile target of the final
agreement is the “30 by 30” deal, which seeks
to ensure the effective conservation and managementof at least 30% of terrestrial, inland water, and coastal
and marine areas by 2030. It also targets the restorationof at least 30% of degraded ecosystems – the current
protected status extends to only 17% and 10% oflands and oceans, respectively5. But the deal does not
explicitly exclude harmful activities in these protectedareas. Still, the magnitude of the pledge is equivalent tothe 2015 Paris Agreement to try to limit temperature rises
this century to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
2. Protecting the planetary protectors iscriticalGiven that protecting the natural world
requires safeguarding the communities acting
as its steward, the agreement extends tosocial protection. A defining aspect was the protection of
the rights of indigenous communities and a recognitionof their stewardship role in conservation. Indigenous
communities represent only 5% of the global population.
But their activities and understanding help protect 80%of the planet’s biodiversity6 . The agreement highlightsthat indigenous-led conservation models should become
standard and communities’ participation in decisionmaking is critical1.
3. A bigger budget but we don’t think it’ssufficient
Many of the world’s richest and mostdelicate habitats are within developing
countries – and preserving them requires funding. The
conference pledged to increase the annual flow ofcapital to developing countries to USD 20 billion by 2025
and to at least USD 30 billion by 20301. The amounts
are equivalent to doubling and tripling the current
international aid for biodiversity. But, as has been thecase with climate, the issue of finance has yet to besatisfactorily addressed. The funding announced is astart but falls significantly short of the estimated annual
financing gap of USD 700 billion to reverse biodiversity
loss by 2030.
4. Important pledges to reduce harmful
subsidies and cut waste
Environmentally harmful subsidies have been
cited as a major failure of the last decade’s
biodiversity targets. In response, governments at theconference agreed to reduce subsidies aligned tobiodiversity harm by USD 500 billion a year1 – in sectorsincluding forestry, agriculture and water. Also agreed
were targets to halve global food waste and reduce
nutrient waste by at least 50%. Other targets included
cutting the use of pesticides and hazardous chemicals

2

by at least half and working towards eliminating plastic
pollution by 20301.
5. Scene set for companies to disclose theirimpact on nature
For now, companies are still not required todisclose the full impact of their operations
on nature to the same degree many mustfor the environment. The framework did not introduce
mandatory natural capital disclosures. Few nations
currently have such detailed disclosure requirements inplace. But the agreement did require governments toensure that large companies and financial institutions
disclose their “risks, dependencies and impacts onbiodiversity1”. The move is an important scene-setter,even if it will be a challenge to reach a consensus on thenumerous metrics to assess biodiversity impacts.
6. Harnessing the financial sector’s force inthe conservation fightReversing the conservation crisis requires thehelp of stakeholders beyond governments.
And two important initiatives announced
alongside the conference suggested a coordinatedapproach may be possible. First, 150 financial
institutions, managing more than USD 24 trillion inassets, issued a statement calling on governments
to adopt the GBF.7 Second, Nature Action 100 waslaunched, a global investor engagement initiative
focused on driving greater corporate ambition andaction to reduce nature and biodiversity loss. 8 The bodyaims to engage with companies in key sectors deemedsystematically important in reversing biodiversity loss toencourage commitments, actions and public policies.
7. What next? Time to strengthen the link
between biodiversity and climate
Focus now shifts to the next biodiversity
conference, COP 16, taking place in Turkey
in 2024. All 196 countries pledging to support the GBF
will have to update their biodiversity strategies andaction plans alongside their strategies for bridging
the biodiversity finance gap. Such actions will help
raise awareness of the risks posed by not addressing
biodiversity loss, while focusing political and fiscal
support on the topic. Hopefully, the efforts will help togenerate debate about how to fill the USD 700 billion
financing gap we highlighted earlier. We believe there
is a strong interplay and interdependence between
biodiversity protection and climate transition. The lackof formal recognition of the connection remains animpediment to directing sufficient capital. Formalising
this connection, together with more explicit guidanceon the contributions of the private sector and highestimpacting sectors, would boost efforts to stem theconservation crisis by focusing attention on thenecessary mitigation and adaptation steps.

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1. Convention on Biological Diversity, Nations Adopt Four Goals, 23 Targets for 2030 in Landmark UN Biodiversity Agreement, 2022 https://prod.
drupal.www.infra.cbd.int/sites/default/files/2022-12/221219-PressRelease-Final.pdf
2. United Nations Environment Programme Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’ Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’, 6 May 2019
3. United Nations, Paris Agreement 2015 https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/english_paris_agreement.pdf
4. Paulson Institute; Nature Conservancy; and the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Financing Nature: Closing the Global Biodiversity
Financing Gap, 2020
5. Protected Planet Report, 2020 https://livereport.protectedplanet.net/
6. WWF, Recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Land Interests is Critical for People and Nature, 2020
7. Principles for Responsible Investment 150 financial institutions, managing more than $24 trillion, call on world leaders to adopt ambitious
Global Biodiversity Framework at COP 15, 13 December 2022
8. Nature Action 100, https://www.natureaction100.org/

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