Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

The Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is a landmark international agreement adopted at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held in Montreal, Canada, in December 2022. The Framework represents a renewed global commitment to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, aiming to ensure that humanity lives in harmony with nature by 2050.
Adopted by 188 governments, including 95% of all Parties to the CBD, as well as the United States and the Vatican, the GBF provides a comprehensive roadmap through four overarching goals and 23 actionable targets to conserve and restore the planet’s ecosystems, safeguard species, and promote sustainable use of biological resources.
Background and Adoption
The GBF succeeded the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (2011–2020), which had achieved limited success due to insufficient implementation and funding. Originally intended for adoption in 2020 during COP15 in Kunming, China, the Framework was delayed by two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The final negotiations were co-chaired by China and Canada, culminating in the adoption of the GBF on 19 December 2022.
The agreement aligns with other global sustainability frameworks, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, acknowledging that biodiversity conservation underpins both climate stability and human wellbeing.
Four Overarching Goals
The GBF is structured around four long-term goals to be achieved by 2050, providing the vision for collective global action:
- Integrity and Connectivity of Ecosystems: Maintain, enhance, or restore the integrity, connectivity, and resilience of all ecosystems, reducing the rate of ecosystem loss and degradation and increasing natural area coverage globally.
- Species Protection and Extinction Prevention: Halt human-induced extinction of threatened species and significantly reduce the extinction risk across all taxa, ensuring population recovery and sustainable management.
- Genetic Diversity Conservation: Maintain genetic diversity within populations of both wild and domesticated species, safeguarding adaptability and resilience in changing environments.
- Sustainable Use and Nature’s Contributions to People: Ensure that biodiversity is sustainably used and managed, recognising and valuing nature’s contributions—such as pollination, water purification, and carbon sequestration—to human societies and economies.
Key Targets of the GBF
The GBF sets out 23 specific and time-bound targets to be achieved by 2030. Among the most significant are:
- Protecting 30% of the Planet: Conserve and manage at least 30% of the world’s land, inland water, coastal, and marine areas through ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas.
- Restoring Degraded Ecosystems: Restore at least 30% of degraded terrestrial and marine ecosystems, strengthening ecosystem services and resilience.
- Preventing Biodiversity Loss: Reduce or eliminate the loss of ecosystems with high biodiversity importance, including primary forests and wetlands.
- Reducing Pollution and Chemical Use: Cut global pesticide and hazardous chemical use by 50% and reduce nutrient pollution by half to protect soil and water quality.
- Addressing Overconsumption and Waste: Halve global food waste and promote sustainable consumption patterns to reduce ecological footprints.
- Phasing Out Harmful Subsidies: Eliminate or reform subsidies harmful to biodiversity—worth at least USD 500 billion annually—and redirect them towards conservation incentives.
- Mobilising Financial Resources: Generate at least USD 200 billion per year from public and private sources to fund biodiversity protection and sustainable use.
- Supporting Developing Nations: Increase international financial flows to developing countries to USD 20 billion per year by 2025 and USD 30 billion per year by 2030.
- Managing Invasive Species: Prevent the introduction and establishment of invasive alien species and reduce their ecological impact.
- Corporate Accountability: Require large and transnational companies to disclose their biodiversity-related risks, dependencies, and impacts, improving transparency in business operations.
Implementation and Monitoring
To ensure accountability and measurable progress, the GBF establishes a monitoring framework consisting of a set of global indicators. Parties are required to:
- Submit national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs) aligned with GBF targets.
- Report on progress every five years or less through the CBD’s monitoring mechanism.
- Use standardised indicators for comparing global and regional trends.
The Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat will consolidate national data to produce global progress reports, tracking implementation and identifying areas requiring stronger action.
Financial Mechanisms and Institutional Support
To support implementation, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) was tasked with establishing a GBF Fund (Special Trust Fund) dedicated to mobilising financial resources for biodiversity conservation. Additionally, a multilateral fund is to be created to ensure equitable benefit-sharing arising from the use of digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources—an issue critical to developing nations.
Timeline for Achievement
The GBF’s targets must be met by 2030, while the overarching goals extend to 2050. Due to the two-year delay caused by the pandemic, countries face a compressed implementation period, making immediate and ambitious action essential.
GBF and the Reduction of Harmful Subsidies
A central commitment within the GBF involves the reduction or reform of environmentally damaging subsidies by USD 500 billion annually. Parties are required to identify such subsidies by 2025 and redirect resources to support biodiversity-friendly initiatives, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy systems.
GBF and Pesticide Use
Recognising the global decline in pollinators such as bees and butterflies, the GBF commits countries to reduce pesticide and hazardous chemical use by 50% by 2030. This measure aims to safeguard both ecological health and human well-being while promoting integrated pest management and organic farming.
GBF, Invasive Species, and Ecosystem Protection
The Framework stresses the prevention and management of invasive alien species, which are among the leading drivers of biodiversity loss. Countries must strengthen border biosecurity, monitoring systems, and eradication programmes to curb the spread of invasive species across terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
GBF and Corporate Responsibility
The GBF introduces for the first time a global requirement that large corporations and transnational enterprises disclose their impacts on biodiversity. This obligation enhances corporate transparency, ensuring that business operations align with sustainability goals and do not contribute to ecosystem degradation.
GBF and Valuing Nature’s Contributions
A major principle of the GBF is to value nature’s contributions to people—including cultural, spiritual, and economic services. The Framework encourages integrating biodiversity values into national accounting, policymaking, and economic planning, reinforcing that human prosperity depends on healthy ecosystems.
India and the GBF
For India, the GBF presents both opportunities and challenges. While the Framework allows the continuation of agricultural subsidies and pesticide use under domestic priorities, it requires India to disclose and manage the environmental risks associated with these practices. The country is expected to align its biodiversity policy framework with the GBF’s 2030 targets while addressing issues related to pollinator decline, deforestation, and urban biodiversity management.
Global Significance
The adoption of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework marks a turning point in international environmental governance. By setting quantifiable global goals, ensuring regular progress reviews, and integrating biodiversity into financial and corporate systems, the GBF aims to prevent an impending ecological collapse.
Its success, however, depends on political will, financial commitment, and equitable participation, particularly from developing nations. The Framework reaffirms that reversing biodiversity loss is not only a moral obligation but also a foundation for human survival, economic stability, and climate resilience.