UN biodiversity summit to take stock of 2030 goals

New Delhi: Amid a global decline in biodiversity driven by human activity, representatives from 196 countries, indigenous people and local communities and stakeholders are meeting in Yerevan, Armenia, for the 17th UN conference on biodiversity.

A key issue on their agenda is to determine whether the world is on track to halt species and habitat loss, with four years remaining to deliver on the 2030 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Adopted in 2022, the framework is a set of 23 interconnected targets to be achieved by 2030, including the "30 by 30 deal" to effectively restore at least 30% of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine ecosystems, phasing out at $500 billion of subsidies harmful to nature, mobilising at least $200 billion per year by 2030, including $30 billion for developing countries.

The report card on collective progress, the State of Biodiversity Action, is a mixed bag. Nearly 90% of countries have set national targets, more than 70% have submitted national reports, and action is underway across all 23 targets. However, implementation remains insufficient, with less than half of the national targets. "In Yerevan, halfway between the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and 2030, we must renew our collective commitment and focus on its delivery," said Hambardzum Matevosyan, COP 17 president and Armenia's minister of environment.


India's Progress Report

The seventh national report submitted to the Convention on Biological Diversity, tracking India's progress on the 23 national targets aligned to the global framework, shows mixed progress. India has shown progress on improving the population of key wildlife species such as tigers, rhinos, and Asiatic lions. On this count, India has bucked the global trend. The WWF's Living Planet Report 2026 reported a 73.2% decline in global wildlife population between 1970 and 2022.

India has reported an upward trend in the numbers of iconic wildlife species, such as the one-horned rhino, with a current population of 3,300, the common leopard (13,874), the Asiatic lion (891) and the snow leopard (718). This, along with its forest and tree cover, which stands at 25.17% of land area, India has registered considerable success on the target for biodiversity-inclusive planning. It serves as a model for how targeted scientific intervention, community involvement and strong governance can reverse biodiversity loss. India has successfully restored about 24.1 million hectares of degraded ecosystems and established 98 Ramsar wetland sites.

However, India has not registered much success in addressing land degradation, which affects nearly 30% of its geographical area. On the 30x30 target, India is lagging, with formal protected areas covering just 5% of land. It is also dealing with systemic gaps such as fragmented datasets, limited financial and technical capacities, declining mangrove cover in some areas and the spread of invasive species.