Nearly 200 nations pledge to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030

Nearly 200 nations struck hard‑fought agreements Friday at a U.N. biodiversity summit in Montreal, pledging to revive the global nature targets set for 2030 after a series of missed deadlines. The deal, announced by the conference chair, calls for a coordinated push to protect 30 percent of land and sea, boost ecosystem restoration and redirect harmful subsidies that drive deforestation and over‑fishing.

The agreements come after the 2020 Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework failed to halt the world’s accelerating loss of species and habitats. Since then, the Living Planet Index has fallen by more than 30 percent, and the Intergovernmental Science‑Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services warned that many nations are off‑track to meet the 2030 goals. Pressure from scientists, Indigenous groups and youth activists built into the summit’s agenda, demanding a reset before the next UN review in 2025.

The new text includes three concrete strands. First, parties commit to legally protect at least 30 percent of terrestrial and marine areas by 2030, with a stretch goal of 35 percent by 2035. Second, they agree to channel $200 billion a year into biodiversity finance, largely from private investment and re‑directed fossil‑fuel subsidies. Third, they set a target to restore 350 million hectares of degraded ecosystems, from wetlands to coral reefs, by 2030. Environmental NGOs praised the ambition but said the language remains soft on enforcement and funding gaps remain large. “We have a roadmap, but without binding commitments and real money, it is a promise on paper,” said a spokesperson for the World Wildlife Fund. A few donor countries voiced concern that the financing mechanisms lack clear accountability.

The summit will now move to implementation. Nations must submit detailed national biodiversity strategies by the end of 2025, and a high‑level review is scheduled for the 2027 UN General Assembly. Observers say the real test will be whether the pledged $200 billion materialises and whether countries can curb the subsidies that fuel habitat loss. If the commitments hold, the world could at least stop the slide in biodiversity loss and give ecosystems a chance to recover before the next decade’s climate challenges intensify.