Wetlands seek focused targets as CBD negotiations proceed at COP15
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Climate and disaster risks
Wetlands are disproportionately important for biodiversity and need to be at the heart of the global biodiversity framework and countries’ plans for delivery. Wetlands – both inland water and coastal ecosystems – are home to 40% of the world’s biodiversity and in no other ecosystem is the fate of people and nature so strongly intertwined. But they are being lost faster than any other ecosystem and we need to act now.
Wetlands connect land and sea, and terrestrial and marine ecosystems depend on freshwater ecosystems being in better condition.
We welcome the progress made by negotiators on the inclusion of inland waters in the restoration and 30×30 conservation targets so far.
The GBF must also be more ambitious on tackling the drivers of wetland destruction and biodiversity loss by transforming agriculture, ending harmful subsidies, and reorienting the global economic and financial systems towards nature positive.
We urge countries to reach a transformational global deal for nature that matches the urgency and severity of the science, crucial to move forward on tackling biodiversity loss, and to mobilise public and private finance alongside climate action.
Wetlands International will be instrumental in the implementation of the GBF, working with governments, businesses, local communities, and indigenous groups.