To preserve nature, 30 percent of all land and sea on Earth must be protected areas by 2030. Countries agreed on this four years ago in the Canadian city of Montreal. How is that promise holding up now?
Over the next two weeks, countries will take stock during a so-called biodiversity summit in the Armenian capital Yerevan. Minister Jaimi van Essen of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature is also attending.
Biological diversity, or simply biodiversity, is a comprehensive term. From primeval forests and elephants to the butterflies in your garden and the moss between the pavement tiles: it is all part of biodiversity.
It is not only about species of animals, plants, fungi and other life, but also about the swamps, forests and other areas in which they live. The variation in the genetic material of species also falls under biodiversity.
Pollination and coastal protection
Many people find nature valuable to protect. But even if you do not think so, there are good reasons for nature conservation, says Christine Wortmann, who is attending the summit on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). "Economic stability and food security are the strongest arguments."
For example, wild bees help pollinate crops and nature contributes to soil fertility. Nature areas also provide certain 'services' to people. Mangrove forests help protect the coast against flooding. In the Netherlands, for example, the so-called salt marshes help with this.
23 agreements
Worldwide, nature has declined over the past decades. That is why countries made 23 agreements four years ago to protect a large part of the Earth and restore damaged nature.
Many of those agreements are meant to support the fight against nature loss. For example, countries promised to phase out subsidies that harm nature and to allocate more money for protection. They also want to plant more greenery in cities and make nature areas resilient to climate change.
Not on track
This is not the first time countries have made agreements, but implementation proves difficult. Even now, the world is not on track for most goals, as shown in a United Nations report published in July and discussed by countries in Yerevan. Only one goal was on track: attention to the impact of climate change on nature.
Correspondent Nina Jurna saw in 2024 how the Pantanal wetland area is threatened:
The overall judgment is mixed. "We are still fairly satisfied with the progress on protecting 30 percent of land and sea," says Wortmann of WWF. She is less satisfied with the supporting measures. "Think of adjusting consumption patterns and raising money for nature protection."
"The biggest problem is finding money to achieve the goals," says Liesje Mommer, professor of underground ecology at Wageningen University, to NOS Radio 1 News. "It was agreed that we need 200 billion euros annually to protect nature and biodiversity, but we are not yet halfway there."
Phasing out subsidies
Talking about phasing out subsidies that destroy nature is also an important goal of the summit, says Mommer. The Netherlands published an overview in May of financial schemes that affect biodiversity. Agriculture Minister Van Essen wrote to Parliament that the cabinet is working on "next steps" to act on this report.
For the negotiations, the Netherlands is working together with the European Union. Wortmann expects the EU to commit to achieving the agreements made in 2022 by 2030.
This often causes tension in negotiations with emerging countries where most biodiversity exists worldwide. They believe they should receive more financial support to protect their rainforests and other nature. That support should come from countries that have already become wealthy and have less nature left.
The meeting in Yerevan is the seventeenth biodiversity summit. Already in 1992, almost all countries in the world agreed in Rio de Janeiro to protect their nature. At the same time, they also concluded the better-known climate treaty. The United States has not participated from the start, as one of the few UN members.