UN Report Will Underline Huge Stakes Involved, Achievable Steps to Realize Goals / Vision for Nature

The UN’s Global Biodiversity Outlook 5, to debut May 18, outlines a combination of achievable actions needed to protect nature, ecosystems and nature's contributions to people, as it underlines the enormous stakes for humanity involved in the success of those efforts.

The report synthesizes comprehensive evidence of the urgent need for action as nations negotiate a 10-year global framework for biodiversity-related policy-making, and prescribes demonstrated pathways to reach new targets for nature to 2030, and the world’s previously-agreed vision for 2050: ‘Living in harmony with nature.’

The framework and targets will be considered at an historic UN Biodiversity Conference -- the 15th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), Kunming, China, Oct. 15-29.

GBO5 builds on a wide range of sources, including

• Four previous GBO reports (2001, 2006, 2010, 2015)
• Assessments by IPBES (the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), including 2019’s landmark Global Assessment, which referenced nearly 15,000 information sources
• Recent research and indicators updated since the IPBES GA
• 6th National Reports to the CBD from the Convention’s member Parties
• Reports from international bodies, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and others
• Plant Conservation Report (Global Strategy For Plant Conservation targets, 2011-2020)
• Local Biodiversity Outlook (relating to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities)

GBO5 offers an integrated overview of the world’s achievements and shortfalls with respect to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (2010-2020), and draws the essential links between biodiversity and other key international objectives, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals), and the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. 

It examines causes of biodiversity and ecosystem change, the implications for people, and policy options based on programs worldwide that demonstrate successful approaches.

More Information:

GBO5 "Primer" Media Alert

Previous editions of the GBO (1 - 4)

GBO 5 Review