The Protected Planet 2024 report issued a strong warning and a global call to action to protect the planet. At least 30% of the Earth’s land and marine areas must be “saved” by 2030.
This goal is crucial to combat biodiversity loss and mitigate climate change. As time progresses, the need for effective strategies becomes increasingly urgent.
The urgency of protecting the planet
The international community has made progress in committing to protect 30% of the Earth by 2030. However, progress needs to be accelerated, according to a report from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published this Monday.
The report revealed that 17.6% of the world’s land and inland waters and 8.4% of oceans and coastal areas are within protected and conserved areas.
Thus, the increase in coverage since 2020 is more than double the size of Colombia. However, this represents less than 0.5% in both domains.
This leaves an area of land approximately the size of Brazil and Australia combined, and at sea an area larger than the Indian Ocean that must be designated as a protected area before 2030.
In other words, in the next six years, the global network must urgently expand by 12.4% on land and 21.6% in the ocean.
The greatest progress since 2020 has occurred in oceans, but in national waters. In areas beyond national jurisdiction, coverage remains very low, accounting for less than 11% of the total area covered by protected marine and coastal zones.
“The landmark report shows that some progress has been made over the past four years, but we are not moving forward either enough or fast enough,” declared the UNEP Executive Director.
Protected Planet 2024: report objectives
The UN report sets several key objectives:
- Expansion of protected areas: Increase the number of protected areas globally to reach 30% of land and marine areas.
- Ecosystem conservation: Promote the protection of critical ecosystems, such as forests, coral reefs, and wetlands.
- Investment in protection: Invest in conservation initiatives, providing the necessary resources for the implementation of effective policies.