UK 'seriously off track' to meet global biodiversity targets

The UK is “seriously off track” to meet global targets to halt biodiversity loss by 2030, a new analysis has warned.

Research by the RSPB suggests the country is failing to make sufficient progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the international agreement designed to halt and reverse nature’s decline.

The agreement, adopted by 195 countries in 2022, aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss worldwide by the end of the decade.

However, a newly released UK progress report indicates that delivery is falling short halfway through what was intended to be a decisive decade for nature.

Wildlife populations in the UK have declined significantly in recent decades, with many species facing increasing pressure from habitat loss, pollution and climate change.

Much of the UK’s biodiversity is found on farmland and managed landscapes, meaning farmers and land managers are expected to play a key role in efforts to restore nature.

The RSPB’s latest assessment, Delivering the UK’s Nature Promises, concludes that progress towards many of the global biodiversity targets is far too slow.

Richard Broadbent, environmental lawyer at national law firm Freeths, said the findings underline the scale of the challenge facing the UK.

“The RSPB’s latest publication… makes clear that the UK remains seriously off track in meeting its global commitments to halt and reverse nature’s decline,” he said.

Broadbent said that despite optimism when the agreement was adopted in 2022, progress has so far been limited.

“Midway through the decade, progress is far too slow, with the majority of targets not on track for delivery by 2030,” he said.

He added that the global biodiversity deal was introduced partly because the previous international framework had failed to deliver meaningful results.

The earlier targets, known as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, were widely missed worldwide. By the time they expired, the UK was on track to meet only five of the 20 targets.

Broadbent warned that the situation is particularly concerning given the growing recognition of nature’s role in addressing wider challenges such as climate change, public health, food security and national resilience.

He also suggested recent policy debates risk undermining progress.

“This ongoing failure is made more concerning by a recent shift in government rhetoric and policy, which increasingly portrays environmental protections as a barrier to economic growth rather than the foundation of long-term prosperity, health and resilience,” he said.

Broadbent said the UK needs a more balanced national conversation about nature and development.

“We urgently need a more mature and honest national debate about nature in England,” he said.

That discussion, he argued, should move beyond “false choices between development or conservation” and instead focus on coordinated action to tackle biodiversity decline.

He added that stronger government leadership would be needed to unlock greater investment in nature recovery.

“Key to that is government creating the right conditions for private sector investment in nature, rather than constantly undermining it via conflicting policy decisions or watering down existing nature conservation regimes,” he said.

The government says environmental policies and funding programmes are intended to support nature recovery and help meet international biodiversity commitments.

However, the report warns that without faster progress the UK risks missing another set of global biodiversity targets.