Context: The Aichi Biodiversity Targets expired in 2020 and according to a UN assessment in 2020, no single country met all 20 Aichi Targets.

Aichi Biodiversity Targets

• The Aichi Targets were adopted during the 2010 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) summit in Nagoya, Japan.

• Goals: It included goals such as reducing deforestation by at least half during the coming decade and curbing pollution so that it no longer harmed ecosystems.

• Implementation: Countries after the adoption of the target were expected to come up with their own national biodiversity strategies that would help in achieving the goals laid out by Aichi.

What progress is made in Aichi Biodiversity Targets?

• Some progress was made towards the objective of conserving 17% of all land and inland waters and 10% of the ocean by the end of the decade.

• Six of the targets, including the land and ocean conservation target, were deemed “partially achieved”.

• However, most of its targets were not achieved by the world and Aichi was deemed a failure by the United Nations. This is because, at a global level, none of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets was met or achieved.

What are the reasons for the failure of Aichi Biodiversity Targets?

• The targets have vague language and did not hold countries to a specific action.

• Nearly all parties created their own national biodiversity strategies, but many of them were never fully implemented it.

• The other reasons include a) lack of finance, b) lack of robust monitoring, planning, reporting and reviewing framework and c) lack of clearly defined metrics.

What will be the future of biodiversity conservation?

• The CBD secretariat called on parties to come up with another guiding document to direct biodiversity conservation efforts through 2030 and beyond.