Nearly 200 nations face a deadline to report their nature conservation plans to the United Nations ahead of the two-week UN nature summit, COP16, beginning on Monday in Cali, Colombia. These plans, known as National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), are crucial for meeting global nature targets set during the last UN Biodiversity Summit, COP15, held in Montreal in 2022.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework established four overall goals for 2050 and 23 urgent tasks to be achieved by 2030. Key targets include setting aside 30% of the Earth for conservation and mobilizing $200 billion in nature financing.
NBSAPs are national pledges detailing how each country plans to contribute to these global biodiversity goals. These plans are essential for assessing whether countries are on track to meet the agreed-upon objectives. Unlike national climate pledges, which are updated periodically, there are currently no plans to update biodiversity pledges beyond COP16.
The format of NBSAPs varies significantly between countries. For example, the United Arab Emirates submitted a concise 22-page plan, whereas France’s plan spans nearly 400 pages. This lack of standardization could complicate efforts to compare and evaluate these plans.
NBSAPs may include various conservation strategies, such as designating land or ocean areas for conservation, restoring agricultural lands, or creating urban green spaces. However, experts are concerned that some countries may focus only on the easiest targets, potentially neglecting more challenging but equally important goals.
NBSAPs are similar to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) used for climate change efforts under the Paris Agreement. Both types of pledges are designed to track progress towards global environmental goals. However, measuring biodiversity progress is more complex than tracking carbon emissions, as it involves assessing the health of ecosystems, animals, and plants. Countries are still determining the best methods for measuring progress on these nature goals.
There is potential overlap between NBSAPs and NDCs, as actions to preserve nature can also help regulate the climate, and global warming poses a threat to biodiversity. Guidelines accompanying the 2022 nature pact encourage countries to pursue actions that support both biodiversity and climate goals.
As of a few days before the summit, approximately 16% of countries had submitted their NBSAPs. The preparation of these plans often requires extensive consultations with local and Indigenous populations, a process that can be time-consuming and challenging, particularly for countries with fewer resources.
To assist with the preparation of NBSAPs, Colombia and Germany launched the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership in 2022, a 30 million euro ($32.65 million) initiative involving at least 21 countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sri Lanka.
There are no penalties for missing the NBSAP submission deadline. Countries have the option to submit a report listing their national targets without detailing how these targets will be met. More than 90 of the 195 countries that agreed to the Global Biodiversity Framework have submitted such reports.
The COP16 summit will be a critical platform for discussing and refining these plans, ensuring that global biodiversity goals are met through coordinated and comprehensive efforts.
