Wale's progress is non-existent – actually regressing since global targets were set two years ago – and this will be a challenge for new ministers at this first stock-take.
The occasion is the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity which runs from Monday 21st October to Friday 1st November 2024 in Colombia. The upcoming summit will be the first opportunity for the world to measure progress towards the global nature goals agreed in December 2022.
Today, The Wildlife Trusts published Local to Global – the Global Biodiversity Framework and what Wales needs to do to implement it which outlines the steps Welsh Government must take to reverse nature loss and meet global targets.
Rachel Sharp Director of Wildlife Trusts Wales says:
Wales has still not stopped the loss of nature. The targets set two years ago are ambitious but are needed if Wales is to respond to the growing impacts of both the climate and nature crises. The cost of inaction is greater but still, we don’t see cross-government support of nature's recovery.
Wales has set high environmental ambitions it is time now to see action to recover nature. We need land effectively managed not just protected. We need the issue of agriculture pollution in our rivers addressed. We have no acknowledgement of how to achieve the commitments in our seas. There is too much presumption that protection delivers. This simply isn’t true with nature being no better off inside our national parks than within. Our Marine Protected Areas don’t cover the full site instead just features within them.
We need more investment into our best SSSI sites and recognition of other areas for conservation. Our rivers need farm and human waste removed. Our seas need the whole site designated where harmful activity is not allowed.
Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, (who is attending COP16 in Colombia) says of the UK Governments role:
“Two years ago nearly 200 countries came together to agree a global biodiversity framework. At the time it was enthusiastically championed by the UK – but we’ve yet to see progress on halting, let alone reversing, nature loss. It’s vital that the UK gets stuck into reducing river pollution, protecting more land for nature and halving the use of pesticides, to name a few – otherwise this country will fail its targets and completely undermine the international agreement.
“There’s a colossal job to do in the next five years and we urgently need to see a radical approach to rebuilding our natural infrastructure fast. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world whose degradation is so acute it is known to be causing big losses to UK GDP. So it’s brilliant to see that the new UK Government has signalled it takes the situation seriously and regards nature loss as a global security issue and is conducting a rapid review of its Environmental Improvement Plan.
“Meanwhile there are things the UK Government could do right now. They could ban the sale of peat, allow wild beaver reintroductions and introduce Wildbelt to put more land aside for nature recovery. Communities are already suffering from the effects of climate change – we’re experiencing extreme weather and floods – yet authorities are still reaching for short-term hard engineering solutions instead of rewilding floodplains to soak up water. The new UK Government must announce bold action for nature at home on the international stage.”
The Convention on Biological Diversity is a vitally important global treaty. The world’s biodiversity is fast decreasing and action is urgently needed to prevent ecological collapse. The 2021 Dasgupta Review of The Economics of Biodiversity, commissioned by HM Treasury, warned that “our unsustainable engagement with nature is endangering the prosperity of current and future generations.”
The goals and targets in the Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed at the last Conference of the Parties (COP 15) in December 2022, focus on bending the curve of nature loss, rather than just halting its decline. Wildlife Trusts Wales report looks where implementation is urgently needed to ensure nature’s recovery by the end of: the decade under the three target headings of reducing threats to biodiversity; meeting people’s needs through sustainable use and benefit-sharing; and tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming.
Wildlife Trusts Wales want to see the Welsh Government pledge to make fast progress on commitments to:
1) Protect 30% of land and sea by 2030. Unfortunately, Wales is not on track to meet this target and is even regressing – the amount of land in Wales alone that can be said to be effectively protected for nature is 5% while the amount of sea protected and effectively managed continues to lag at 3%.
2) Publish a plan to halt nature's decline by 2030. Athough progress through the Biodiversity Deep Dive has developed some recommendations. The Welsh Government must clearly set out the policies and funding necessary to meet commitments under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
3) Halve the harm from pesticides and clean-up rivers by 2030. The Global Biodiversity Framework includes targets to reduce excess nutrients lost to the environment and reduce the overall risk from pesticides by at least half. To meet this, the Welsh Government must publish a credible National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides, which is currently 6 years overdue, and empower environmental watchdogs to ensure they can enforce penalties when the water pollution laws are broken. The Sustainable Farming Schemes needs to fund the delivery of better buffers alongside rivers, The damage of agriculture runoff needs to be given more focus, through stronger Control of Water Pollution (Wales) Regulations.
You can keep up-to-date with The Wildlife Trusts at COP16.
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