The world needs full throttle acceleration to fulfil the promise of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

In a late plenary on 18 December 2022, COP 15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). That historic moment in snow-clad Montreal echoed another triumph of multilateralism in the French capital five years prior: the adoption of the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The KMGBF is to biodiversity loss what the Paris Agreement is to climate change: a universal masterplan to address an existential challenge. Both demand bold action and require a much swifter pace of implementation. 

In the last two years, Parties to the CBD took encouraging steps towards implementing what they adopted in Montreal. To date, 119 countries submitted national targets aligned with the Global Biodiversity Framework, translating the global targets of the KMGBF into targets of their own and considering national circumstances, priorities and socioeconomic conditions.

Additionally, 44 Parties submitted National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs), the policy documents that articulate how the national biodiversity targets aligned with the KMGBF will be achieved. Eventually, all Parties are expected to submit updated or revised NBSAPs, identifying the financial resources and capacity needs that are required for the implementation of the national targets that they contain. It is essential that all Parties that have not yet done so, submit updated or revised NBSAPs as soon as possible. 

Success requires the timely implementation of ambitious NBSAPs. The expectation is that they will aggregate and deliver progress on a planetary scale towards the 23 global targets of the KMGBF by 2030. This would set the world on a path to attain four long-term goals –also adopted in Montreal two years ago--by 2050: Protect and restore nature; Prosper with nature; Share its benefits fairly; and invest in and collaborate for nature. These goals are the pillars of the vision of life in harmony with nature: the promise that the adoption of the KMGBF brought to the world.  

At COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, Parties to the CBD acknowledged the need for accelerated implementation. Before COP 16 was suspended for absence of quorum, H.E. Susana Muhamad, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia and COP President, gavelled significant decisions into adoption. 

History was made when Parties adopted a decision operationalizing the multilateral mechanism on benefit-sharing from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources, including a global fund that they branded as “The Cali Fund”. Another monumental decision pertains to the establishment of a permanent subsidiary body dedicated to Article 8(j) of the Convention, which will elevate the level of participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in the functioning of the CBD. Agreement on Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) will help with efforts to identify the most critical and vulnerable parts of the ocean. These bring major wins for biodiversity and those who protect it with benefits sweeping across the 23 targets of the KMGBF.  (Learn more about what COP 16 achieved in Cali.)

Progress is being made, albeit a step change remains necessary. The second anniversary of the KMGBF is a time to celebrate achievements but also to accelerate implementation. 

As negotiations advance, including in the resumed COP 16 session in Rome in early 2025 Parties can take immediate steps in at least three priority areas: 

• Fostering broad participation and synergies

By activating a whole-of-society approach to implementation and bringing down silos that have hampered action, countries can unlock and leverage all available resources, including domestic public and private finance; citizen participation in, and uptake of, policies; behavioural change; and innovation. 

Through the exercise of their mandates, parliaments and sub-national governments can play a decisive role in advancing national biodiversity action. A whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach will ensure that national biodiversity targets are on par with the unprecedented global ambition of the KMGBF. 

Countries can also take steps in removing institutional silos separating the streams of national implementation of the various Multilateral Environmental Agreements. On synergies, small steps can go a long way. More can be done at the national level to connect the implementation of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Land Degradation Neutrality targets. The Secretariats of the three Rio Conventions can play an important role in supporting this.

• Bringing about a surge in national implementation

Immediate, no-regret national steps can deliver considerable progress against the 23 targets of the KMGBF. Target 18 is a case in point: two years after the adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework, incentives that go to economic activities harming biodiversity must be addressed as a matter of priority. 

In addition, the introduction of nationally appropriate frameworks for disclosures on nature dependencies and impacts can also catalyse and leverage the essential contributions of businesses and financial institutions, in line with Target 15. 

Through initiatives such as the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership and by engaging with the recently designated sub-regional support centres, Parties can also hone capacity for the effective delivery of their national targets aligned with the KMGBF as a whole. 

• Strengthening national monitoring systems

Tracking progress against the targets is vital. Robust national monitoring systems constitute a prerequisite for the effective implementation of the KMGBF. 

Countries should prioritize the set-up of systems capable of harvesting quality-assured data. That will be a judicious investment, because Parties are expected to submit mandatory national reports under the CBD by February 2026. These national reports will feed into the global stocktake of the KMGBF that is scheduled the same year at COP 17 in Armenia. 

This fast-approaching milestone should serve as a reminder that, on the second anniversary of the adoption of the KMGBF, the world is in a race against the clock to make peace with nature. 

More information:

Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

KMGBF Second Anniversary Trello Board

Countries to Resume Crucial Biodiversity Discussions in Rome, 25-27 February 2025