UN ocean target to be missed by eight decades, Greenpeace analysis finds

The UN nature target to protect and restore 30% of nature by 2030 will not be achieved in ocean environments until 2107, an analysis by Greenpeace has found.

With the UN Biodiversity Cop16 in Cali, Colombia, opening on Monday, the international campaign group released a report warning of the slow rate of progress towards the goal.

The target was agreed at the last biodiversity Cop in Montreal in 2022, where nations agreed to protect nature across land and seas.

The Global Ocean Treaty was then agreed in 2023 to enable nations to take action that work towards meeting commitments to protect marine environments within the wider nature target.

The Greenpeace paper outlined the current efforts and set out the key obstacles to reaching the goals.

It found that in the 32 years since the Rio Earth Summit, where the UN Convention for Biological Diversity was established, less than 3% of the world’s ocean has been fully protected from human activities.

This includes less than 1% of the high seas – the vast areas of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction.

It comes as Greenpeace UK writes to British ministers urging the Government to take a leading role at the Cali biodiversity talks by pushing for ambitious action to put targets back on track.

In the UK, the report said only two of the 386 marine protected areas (MPAs) are fully protected from all fishing activities.

The remaining 384 MPAs permit a variety of fishing activities, including many that allow for bottom-towed equipment, which damages the seabed, it added.

The report also found that the equivalent of more than 50 MPAs the size of the UK need to be established every year – one per week – between now and the end of 2030 to meet the global target.

In its letter, Greenpeace UK urged Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Environment Secretary Steve Reed to “use this crucial moment to drive forward ambitious global action on nature restoration and protection”.

The campaign group called for the Government to ensure the UK is contributing fairly to funding global biodiversity protection, to announce a timeline for the country to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty and to set out an urgent national plan for restoring nature in the UK.

“The parlous state of nature, at home and internationally, has never been more obvious. And yet far too often we’re stalling or moving backwards on the vital measures and targets we need to be hitting to turn the tide.

“The UK Government must be clear-eyed about the challenge we face and what needs to be done.”

Megan Randles, policy adviser at Greenpeace UK, said: “We are six years from the end of 2030 and yet almost no progress has been made towards protecting 30% of the world’s ocean.

“At the current rate, we won’t hit 30% protection at sea until the next century.

“A healthy ocean is vital for millions of people and for protecting biodiversity from human pressures and climate change.

“Where is the ambition? Where are the ocean champions? This objective can only be achieved with great efforts both in territorial waters and on the high seas.”

A Government spokesman said: “For too long our oceans, and the precious species that depend on them, have been under threat.

“This Government is committed to protecting and restoring our oceans to good health.

“We will deliver 30by30 on land and sea, ratify a new Global Oceans Treaty to protect marine life and enforce bottom trawling restrictions in our marine protected areas.”