Global Biodiversity Framework
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Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) is the principal international framework guiding global efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss through 2030 and place nature on a path toward recovery by 2050. Adopted under the Convention on Biological Diversity at the fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP15) in December 2022, the framework contains four long-term goals for 2050 and 23 action-oriented targets for 2030.
The framework emerged after governments, scientists and conservation organizations concluded that the previous Aichi Biodiversity Targets had not produced sufficient progress to stop continuing declines in species, ecosystems and genetic diversity. The KMGBF therefore places greater emphasis on measurable targets, national implementation, monitoring, financial resources, accountability and participation by governments, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, businesses, financial institutions and civil society.
Among its most widely recognized commitments is Target 3, often called the 30x30 target, which seeks the effective conservation and management of at least 30 percent of terrestrial, inland-water, coastal and marine areas by 2030. The framework also calls for restoration of degraded ecosystems, prevention of species extinctions, reductions in pollution and invasive species, sustainable management of agriculture and fisheries, reform of biodiversity-harmful subsidies, greater biodiversity financing and stronger corporate disclosure of nature-related risks and impacts.
Goals and the 23 Biodiversity Targets
The KMGBF's four long-term goals address the condition of biodiversity, sustainable use of nature, equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources and the financial, technological and institutional resources necessary to implement the framework.
Its 23 targets translate these broad goals into actions intended to be achieved by 2030.
Targets 1 through 8 address many of the principal direct pressures on biodiversity. They include biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning, ecosystem restoration, protected and conserved areas, threatened-species recovery, sustainable use of wild species, invasive alien species, pollution and the effects of climate change and ocean acidification.
Targets 9 through 13 focus more directly on sustainable use and the benefits people receive from nature. These include sustainable management of wild species, biodiversity-friendly agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry, restoration of ecosystem services, expansion of urban green and blue spaces and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources and digital sequence information.
Targets 14 through 23 address the economic, institutional and societal changes required for implementation. These include integrating biodiversity into government policy and financial decision-making, requiring or encouraging large businesses and financial institutions to assess and disclose biodiversity impacts and dependencies, promoting sustainable consumption, strengthening biosafety, reforming environmentally harmful subsidies, mobilizing biodiversity finance, improving technology and scientific cooperation, increasing access to biodiversity information and ensuring inclusive participation and gender equality.
Together, the targets are intended to move biodiversity policy beyond isolated conservation programmes and integrate nature into land-use planning, economic development, public finance, agriculture, business, infrastructure and other sectors that influence ecosystems.
National Implementation and Biodiversity Strategies
Implementation of the framework depends heavily on National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). Countries are expected to translate the global framework into national targets, policies, conservation programmes and monitoring systems appropriate to their ecological, economic and institutional circumstances.
Governments around the world have consequently begun revising biodiversity strategies and developing national targets aligned with the KMGBF. Examples include updated strategies and reporting programmes in Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and other countries.
National implementation requires coordination among environmental agencies, finance ministries, agricultural authorities, planning agencies, Indigenous governments, local authorities, businesses, scientists and civil society. This whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach reflects the recognition that biodiversity loss cannot be addressed solely through protected areas or traditional conservation agencies.
The seventh national reporting cycle under the Convention on Biological Diversity is becoming particularly important because it provides one of the first systematic opportunities for countries to report progress against the four goals and 23 targets using the new monitoring framework.
Global Review and Progress Toward 2030
By 2026, implementation of the KMGBF had entered an important assessment phase. National reports, revised biodiversity strategies, updated national targets and global datasets were increasingly being assembled to determine whether collective action was sufficient to meet the 2030 objectives.
The emerging global review process is intended to provide an early stocktake of achievements, implementation gaps and areas requiring accelerated action. Scientific and implementation bodies under the Convention on Biological Diversity have also been examining indicators, monitoring methods, national progress and recommendations for future Conference of the Parties meetings.
Early assessments suggest that institutional infrastructure for implementing the framework is expanding, but significant challenges remain. These include inadequate biodiversity financing, incomplete monitoring systems, unequal national capacity, continued ecosystem degradation and the difficulty of converting international commitments into measurable improvements in biodiversity.
Protected-area coverage has continued to expand, for example, but assessments also emphasize that simply increasing geographic coverage is insufficient. Conservation areas must protect ecologically important places, maintain connectivity, include representative ecosystems and be effectively and equitably governed.
30x30 and Protected Areas
Target 3 calls for at least 30 percent of the world's terrestrial, inland-water, coastal and marine areas to be effectively conserved and managed by 2030.
The target can be achieved through conventional protected areas, Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) and recognition of Indigenous and traditional territories where appropriate. This broader approach acknowledges that important biodiversity conservation occurs both within and beyond formally designated national parks and reserves.
Research on 30x30 repeatedly emphasizes that conservation effectiveness is as important as total area. Protected and conserved areas should represent different ecosystems, protect areas of high biodiversity importance, remain ecologically connected and have governance systems capable of delivering long-term conservation outcomes.
Indigenous Peoples and local communities are particularly important to the implementation of Target 3 because many areas with high biodiversity value overlap with Indigenous territories and community-managed landscapes.
Private protected areas, ecological corridors, marine protected areas and other conservation systems may also contribute to the target when they produce durable biodiversity outcomes.
Ecosystem Restoration
Target 2 requires at least 30 percent of degraded terrestrial, inland-water, coastal and marine ecosystems to be under effective restoration by 2030.
Restoration can involve forests, grasslands, wetlands, coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, salt marshes and other ecosystems. Effective restoration seeks not merely to increase vegetation cover but to rebuild ecological integrity, connectivity, biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
Researchers and conservation organizations have emphasized the importance of clear standards for determining what qualifies as effective restoration. Without measurable ecological criteria, governments could technically report large areas as being under restoration without achieving substantial improvements in biodiversity.
Restoration also intersects with climate policy. Mangroves, salt marshes, seagrasses and other carbon-rich ecosystems can simultaneously support biodiversity, increase coastal resilience and store significant quantities of carbon.
Biodiversity Finance and the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund
Finance remains one of the most difficult aspects of KMGBF implementation.
Target 19 calls for mobilizing at least US$200 billion per year from all sources for biodiversity by 2030. Potential sources include national governments, international development finance, private investment, multilateral development banks, philanthropic funding and innovative financial mechanisms.
The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), managed through the Global Environment Facility, was established specifically to accelerate implementation of the KMGBF. Its projects support protected areas, restoration, biodiversity planning, institutional capacity, Indigenous and community conservation and other national priorities.
Projects supported through the fund have expanded across developing countries, including programmes involving threatened species, ecological corridors, protected landscapes, marine ecosystems and Indigenous territories.
Despite these initiatives, assessments continue to identify a substantial global biodiversity finance gap.
Target 18 therefore complements new financing commitments by requiring governments to identify, eliminate, phase out or reform incentives harmful to biodiversity, with the framework seeking reductions of at least US$500 billion annually by 2030.
This approach recognizes that increasing conservation spending will have limited impact if much larger financial flows continue to encourage activities that degrade ecosystems.
Cali Fund and Benefit-Sharing
Another important financing development is the Cali Fund, established to create a multilateral mechanism for sharing benefits arising from commercial use of digital sequence information on genetic resources.
The fund was formally launched during the resumed COP16 negotiations in Rome in 2025.
The mechanism seeks contributions from industries benefiting commercially from genetic information and directs resources toward biodiversity conservation, developing countries, scientific capacity and Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
The Cali Fund represents an effort to adapt traditional access-and-benefit-sharing principles to modern biotechnology and digital genetic databases, where companies may benefit from biological information without physically accessing the organisms from which that information originated.
Its long-term effectiveness will depend on participation by governments and private companies, the amount of financing generated and whether benefits are distributed equitably.
Monitoring, Data and Biodiversity Science
The KMGBF places greater emphasis on monitoring than previous biodiversity agreements.
A global monitoring framework provides headline indicators, component indicators and supporting datasets intended to help governments measure progress toward the 23 targets.
Reliable monitoring is essential because global commitments cannot be evaluated without comparable information on ecosystems, species, protected areas, restoration, finance, corporate activity and other indicators.
Researchers have identified continuing gaps in the monitoring system, particularly for measuring biodiversity change at local scales and over relatively short periods.
Satellite remote sensing, environmental monitoring networks, biodiversity databases, ecosystem-risk assessments and community-based monitoring are among the tools being developed or expanded to address these challenges.
Citizen science may also play an important role. Community observations can contribute information relevant to numerous KMGBF indicators while simultaneously increasing public participation in conservation.
The framework additionally recognizes traditional knowledge and emphasizes that biodiversity information systems should respect the rights and contributions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Indigenous Peoples, Communities and Equity
Rights, participation and equity are much more prominent in the KMGBF than in many earlier international biodiversity agreements.
Several targets explicitly recognize Indigenous Peoples and local communities and their roles in conservation, restoration, sustainable use and biodiversity decision-making.
Target 22 calls for meaningful participation, access to information and access to justice, with particular attention to Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, youth, children and people with disabilities.
Target 23 establishes gender equality as an explicit component of implementation.
Indigenous territories are also particularly relevant to Target 3 because many contain large areas of relatively intact ecosystems and significant concentrations of biodiversity.
The framework therefore creates opportunities for greater recognition of Indigenous and community-conserved territories, but researchers also warn that expanding protected areas without strong rights protections could generate conflicts, displacement or inequitable conservation outcomes.
Data justice is another emerging concern. Global biodiversity databases and monitoring systems may inadequately document conservation undertaken by Indigenous Peoples or local communities, potentially making their contributions invisible within international assessments.
Cities and Local Governments
Cities, states, provinces and other subnational governments have become increasingly important participants in KMGBF implementation.
Target 12 specifically calls for increasing the area, quality, connectivity and accessibility of urban green and blue spaces and integrating biodiversity into urban planning.
Local governments can contribute through urban forests, parks, wetlands, habitat corridors, green infrastructure, biodiversity-sensitive land-use planning and local conservation strategies.
International networks of cities and regional governments have increasingly sought recognition within Convention on Biological Diversity processes, arguing that many practical decisions affecting biodiversity are made at the local or regional level.
Municipal governments are also exploring biodiversity finance mechanisms capable of supporting restoration, urban conservation and nature-based infrastructure.
Business and Corporate Responsibility
The KMGBF substantially expands expectations for private-sector participation in biodiversity policy.
Target 15 calls on governments to encourage or require large companies and financial institutions to monitor, assess and disclose their biodiversity dependencies, impacts and risks across operations, supply chains, value chains and investment portfolios.
This provision has contributed to the rapid development of corporate biodiversity standards, disclosure frameworks, science-based nature targets and nature-related financial reporting.
Organizations including the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, Global Reporting Initiative, Science Based Targets Network and Business for Nature have developed tools intended to help companies understand and manage their relationships with ecosystems.
Corporate biodiversity reporting remains an evolving field, however. Researchers have found significant differences among available biodiversity-impact assessment tools and have called for stronger and more consistent metrics.
Another concern involves the integrity of claims that businesses are becoming "nature positive." Without standardized definitions and measurable outcomes, such claims could become difficult to verify.
Agriculture and Food Systems
Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture interact with many KMGBF targets because food production both depends on biodiversity and represents one of the largest sources of pressure on ecosystems.
Target 10 calls for these sectors to be sustainably managed and encourages greater use of biodiversity-friendly practices, including agroecological approaches.
The Food and Agriculture Organization has therefore emphasized the integration of agrifood systems into National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans.
Potential actions include protecting crop and livestock genetic diversity, reducing ecosystem conversion, improving soil biodiversity, maintaining pollinator populations, increasing sustainable fisheries management and integrating biodiversity into forestry and agricultural policy.
Food-system transformation is increasingly viewed as essential to achieving biodiversity, climate and land-restoration objectives simultaneously.
Oceans and Freshwater Ecosystems
The framework explicitly includes terrestrial, inland-water, coastal and marine biodiversity.
This is especially important for freshwater ecosystems, which have historically received less attention than terrestrial and marine environments in some international conservation programmes.
Rivers, lakes, wetlands and other inland waters are included within restoration and area-based conservation targets.
Marine implementation includes protected areas, ecological connectivity, sustainable fisheries, marine restoration and improved monitoring.
Researchers have emphasized that marine protected-area networks should account for ecological connectivity rather than functioning as isolated protected zones.
Coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass ecosystems and other coastal habitats are particularly important because they support biodiversity while also contributing to climate adaptation, fisheries, carbon storage and coastal protection.
Governance and International Cooperation
Implementation of the KMGBF requires extensive international cooperation.
Developing countries often face financial, technical and institutional constraints that make ambitious implementation difficult without international support.
Target 20 therefore emphasizes capacity-building, technology transfer, scientific cooperation and innovation.
United Nations agencies, the Global Environment Facility, multilateral development banks, conservation organizations and national governments have developed programmes intended to strengthen monitoring, improve biodiversity planning and expand technical capacity.
International cooperation is also necessary because biodiversity loss frequently crosses national boundaries. Migratory species, river basins, marine ecosystems, trade, invasive species and global supply chains cannot be effectively managed by individual countries acting alone.
Coordination among environmental agreements is consequently becoming increasingly important as governments seek to align biodiversity, climate, wetlands, wildlife, ocean and sustainable-development commitments.
Challenges to Implementation
The KMGBF represents one of the most comprehensive international biodiversity agreements ever adopted, but its success depends on implementation rather than ambition alone.
The experience of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets demonstrates that internationally agreed targets can fail when they are not supported by adequate finance, strong national policies, measurable indicators and political accountability.
Major challenges include the continuing biodiversity finance gap, incomplete national implementation, insufficient monitoring capacity, environmentally harmful subsidies, habitat loss, ecosystem degradation and difficulties integrating biodiversity into sectors outside traditional environmental policy.
There are also important questions concerning equity. Conservation programmes must avoid imposing disproportionate costs on Indigenous Peoples, local communities or developing countries while benefits accrue elsewhere.
The framework therefore combines biological conservation targets with provisions concerning finance, participation, gender equality, benefit-sharing, business responsibility, technology and institutional capacity.
Conclusion
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework establishes a global roadmap for confronting accelerating biodiversity loss through 2030.
Its 23 targets encompass protected areas, ecosystem restoration, species conservation, pollution, invasive species, sustainable agriculture, urban biodiversity, corporate responsibility, finance, scientific cooperation, Indigenous rights and many other dimensions of humanity's relationship with nature.
The framework's significance lies partly in its recognition that biodiversity loss cannot be solved solely by establishing more nature reserves. Economic incentives, public finance, business practices, food systems, cities, infrastructure, governance and social participation all influence whether ecosystems continue to decline or begin to recover.
Implementation is now becoming the central test.
Governments are revising national biodiversity strategies, financial institutions are developing nature-related standards, conservation funds are supporting projects, scientists are improving monitoring systems and Indigenous Peoples, local communities, cities and businesses are gaining more formal roles in biodiversity governance.
The emerging global review process will increasingly reveal whether these actions are sufficient to meet the framework's 2030 mission of halting and reversing biodiversity loss.
The KMGBF therefore represents both an ambitious international agreement and an ongoing experiment in whether governments and societies can translate global environmental commitments into measurable ecological recovery.
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| Category | Sources | | -------------------------------------------------------- | ------: | | Global Review and COP16 Implementation | 11 | | National and Regional Implementation | 26 | | Governance, Cooperation and Institutions | 8 | | Biodiversity Finance, GBFF and Benefit-Sharing | 35 | | Monitoring, Data, Science and Indicators | 21 | | 30x30, Protected Areas and Ecosystem Restoration | 22 | | Indigenous Peoples, Rights, Equity and Local Government | 13 | | Business, Corporate Disclosure and Private-Sector Action | 16 | | Agriculture, Food Systems, Trade, Freshwater and Oceans | 12 | | Species Conservation, Invasive Species and Pollution | 2 | | Framework Origins and Negotiations | 7 | | Framework Overview and Core Reference Pages | 4 | | Official KMGBF Target Guidance | 23 | | **Total** | **200** |
