Making a change after COP15

Governments across the globe have signed a historic agreement that aims to reverse nature loss by 2030. But now it’s up to all of us to ensure they keep their promises.

The agreement was made at the UN convention on biodiversity, COP15, held in Montreal in December 2022, where leaders and biodiversity experts from almost every country in the world gathered together.

The announcement came a few weeks after WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022, which tracks biodiversity and the health of the planet, revealed that global wildlife populations have declined by a staggering 69% since 1970.

With the Earth experiencing the largest loss of life since the extinction of the dinosaurs, this commitment lays the groundwork for the urgent action needed to halt and reverse human-induced biodiversity loss.

The deal also includes targets to cut global food waste by half, and better protect the rights of Indigenous people. Nearly 200 countries signed the agreement, including the UK – but notably, not the US.

“The global ambition agreed at COP15 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 is vital if we are to bring our planet back from the brink,” says Mike Barrett, executive director of science and conservation at WWF-UK. “The science is clear. We cannot save nature without tackling the underlying drivers of biodiversity loss.”

The agreement is more ambitious than anything set out at COP27 – the UN summit on climate change held a month before COP15 – and puts nature on a path to recovery, but only if leaders back up their words with real action.

“We can only bring our world back to life if nations step up the urgency on ambition and delivery, otherwise the Montreal deal will just be words on paper,” says Mike. “The UK government must now lead the way at home and abroad with actions that deliver on its promises and make the ambition of COP15 a reality.” 

Help us hold the UK government to account and deliver on the promises they made to protect our natural world. Together, we can show we need urgent action for nature.