The fifteenth global goal is to protect life on land and ensure biodiversity and conservation. While reaching this goal includes overcoming numerous challenges, the global community can still achieve its goal set out until 2030. This involves drastically increasing measure taken to protect biodiversity and focusing more on implementing the ideas set out in international agreements.
Video Transcript
As with most of the other sustainable development goals, SDG 15 is focused on a long standing environmental issue: the goal of protecting and restoring life on land. More specifically, SDG 15 aims to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.”
The first set of goals set out were to be accomplished by 2020, five years after the SDGs were put into action. Among these aims were to ensure the conservation of terrestrial ecosystems, especially forests, by promoting sustainable management of forests to halt deforestation, all in line with the guidelines set by international agreements.
As for biodiversity, urgent action should be taken to stop the degradation of habitats and the loss of biodiversity. According to the International Union for the Conservation of nature, 160 species have gone extinct between 2010 and 2019, and extinction is forever. By 2020, more measures must be integrated into national and local planning that take biodiversity and ecosystem values into account, with special attention paid to handling invasive species.
With a more long term look, recognising that come ecosystems require more work than others, the UN also defines targets to be reached by 2030. Conservering mountain ecosystems and protecting mountain resources are listed as targets for 2030, as is addressing desertification, and restoring land degraded by extreme weather.
Having an equitable division of natural resources, and protecting against all forms of illegal poaching and tracking of endangered species also plays a considerable role in SDG15.
A considerable, tho indeterminate, amount of resources need to be mobilised to reach these goals, and global support for conservation efforts needs to be at 100%.
Looking at the progress made on the targets, far from halting, deforestation has continued, with a total of over 100 hectares lost since 2000 and mostly in sub saharan africa and latin america where forests are cleared for agriculture. Important areas of biodiversity are still threatened, however the percentage of key ecosystems classified as protected has been increasing, and is currently at around 40%.
The vast majority of UN nations have signed on to at least some international agreements, but as of now, only 30% of the member states are on track to reach the goals of SDG15.
As with many of the SDGs, big systemic change is needed so that progress may continue. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to reach the goals.