20 July 2016: The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has released a document titled ‘Updated Analysis of the Contribution of Targets Established by Parties and Progress Towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.’ According to the publication, while CBD Parties have made efforts to adopt national targets in line with the Convention’s Aichi Biodiversity Targets and have taken national action in support of the Targets, current progress and commitments are insufficient to achieve the Targets by 2020.

Released as part of the documentation for the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to the CBD, to be held in December 2016, in Cancun, Mexico, the document reviews: National Biodiversity Action Plans (NBSAPs) submitted by countries to assess whether national targets are in line with the Aichi targets; and information contained in Parties’ fifth national reports to assess progress towards achieving the Aichi Targets.

The findings of the NBSAPs analysis include: 101 Parties have submitted their initial or revised NBSAPs; on average, less than 20% of national targets are commensurate with or more ambitious than the respective Aichi Targets; the majority of targets were less ambitious or did not address all aspects of the respective Aichi Targets; and many Parties have set targets that are more general than the Aichi Targets, often addressing several Aichi Targets with a single national target.

The analysis of national reports reveals, among other findings, that: the majority of Parties have made progress towards the Aichi Targets, but progress is insufficient to meet the Targets by the 2020 deadline; and between 63% and 87% of Parties are not on track to meet a given Aichi Target. The document concludes, therefore, that additional action is necessary to meet the Aichi Targets.

The document further notes that these findings are consistent with those of the Fourth Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-4) published in 2014. GBO-4 states that while significant progress was made in most areas, the pace of progress was not sufficient to meet the targets set for 2020. The report further projects that pressures on biodiversity will continue to increase until at least 2020, and contribute to the continued decline of biodiversity overall. The report concludes that even when taking into account that there may be some time lag until current actions take effect, the responses to date “may be insufficient relative to pressures, such that they may not overcome the growing impacts of the drivers of biodiversity loss.”

The Aichi Biodiversity Targets were adopted by COP 10 in 2010 as part of the CBD Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. COP 10 also invited Parties to establish their own national targets. In 2014, COP 12 conducted a mid-term review of the Strategic Plan informed by GBO-4. [Publication: Updated Analysis of the Contribution of Targets Established by Parties and Progress Towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets] [CBD Press Release] [NBSAPs website] [IISD RS Reporting on GBO-4 and CBD COP 12]