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The global biodiversity framework needs a robust action agenda

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 7, pages 172–173 (2023)Cite this article

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Bending the curve of biodiversity loss is a key priority for humanity and requires urgent action1. The rapid loss of biological diversity threatens human lives, livelihoods and well-being globally, and is reinforcing and being reinforced by climate breakdown2. In December 2022, the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will be held in Montreal. It is essential that an ambitious, specific and measurable global biodiversity framework is agreed at COP15. However, governments alone are unlikely to reverse negative trends in biodiversity. We suggest that a biodiversity action agenda that mobilizes nature recovery actions from across society — including businesses, investors, civil society groups and local communities — should be included as a complement to governmental efforts.

If governments can agree on a strong framework, an action agenda can create productive links between multilateral and transnational actions: for example, by leveraging capacities from multiple actors, implementing goals, demonstrating solutions and spurring national governments towards greater ambition3,4. However, if governments fail to agree on an ambitious framework — or the subsequent implementation of the agreement suffers from political backlash or a dismantling of national biodiversity policies — the action agenda can help to sustain action and build momentum. To some extent, this scenario played out when the US government rolled back climate policies and announced its exit from the Paris Agreement in 2017. US states, cities and businesses responded through a range of efforts as part of the ‘America’s Pledge’, which would substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions even without federal action5.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Bonn, Germany

    Sander Chan, Steffen Bauer, Idil Boran & Anna-Katharina Hornidge

  2. Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Sander Chan

  3. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Sander Chan, Frank Biermann & Harriet Bulkeley

  4. Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Michele M. Betsill

  5. Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Idil Boran

  6. Department of Philosophy, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Idil Boran

  7. Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Peter Bridgewater

  8. Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Peter Bridgewater

  9. Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, UK

    Harriet Bulkeley

  10. Department of Ecology, University of Brasília, Brasília, Brazil

    Mercedes M. C. Bustamente

  11. Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI-Sciences Po), Paris, France

    Alexandra Deprez

  12. The Water Institute–UNC, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Felix Dodds

  13. Conservation Department, Zoological Society of London (ZSL), London, UK

    Michael Hoffmann

  14. School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

    Alice Hughes

  15. CATIE - Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza, Turrialba, Costa Rica

    Pablo Imbach

  16. Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Maria Ivanova

  17. Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Alexandre Köberle

  18. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Marcel T. J. Kok

  19. Urban Action Lab, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

    Shuaib Lwasa

  20. James Cook University, Douglas, Queensland, Australia

    Tiffany Morrison

  21. Alfred Wegener Institut, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Hans-O. Pörtner

  22. Landscape Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia

    Agus P. Sari

  23. School of Business and Management, Bandung Institute of Technology, Jakarta, Indonesia

    Agus P. Sari

  24. University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA

    Stacy D. VanDeveer

  25. Conservation International, Arlington, VA, USA

    Derek Vollmer

  26. Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Oscar Widerberg

  27. Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London (ZSL), London, UK

    Nathalie Pettorelli

Authors
  1. Sander Chan
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  2. Steffen Bauer
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  12. Anna-Katharina Hornidge
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  14. Pablo Imbach
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  15. Maria Ivanova
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  16. Alexandre Köberle
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  17. Marcel T. J. Kok
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  18. Shuaib Lwasa
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  19. Tiffany Morrison
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  20. Hans-O. Pörtner
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  21. Agus P. Sari
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  22. Stacy D. VanDeveer
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  23. Derek Vollmer
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  24. Oscar Widerberg
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  25. Nathalie Pettorelli
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Sander Chan or Nathalie Pettorelli.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Chan, S., Bauer, S., Betsill, M.M. et al. The global biodiversity framework needs a robust action agenda. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 172–173 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01953-2

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