A/HRC/34/49 threats to biodiversity that have transboundary aspects. The direct drivers of biodiversity loss include the destruction and degradation of natural habitat, the overexploitation of valuable plants and animals, pollution, invasive alien species and climate change. Some of these drivers, including climate change and transboundary pollution, are inherently beyond the control of any one State. Even habitat loss and overexploitation of local resources often have international dimensions. Poaching plants and animals in developing countries, for example, is largely driven by demand in foreign markets. To combat such international trafficking, States adopted the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, but a multibillion dollar illegal trade in wildlife continues. Wellknown examples include killing elephants for ivory and rhinoceroses for their horns, capturing rare parrots and turtles to become pets and harvesting endangered rosewood trees to make furniture. 38. Many of the benefits of biodiversity also have international dimensions. Food and medicine derived from natural resources in one part of the world can benefit people everywhere. Conversely, diseases that spread more quickly because of reduced biodiversity may affect people far from where they first emerged. Other benefits of biodiversity may be less concrete, but nonetheless widely shared. For example, many people find the species with which we share this planet fascinating and inherently valuable, and they feel a sense of loss when they learn of the extinction of species such as the Bramble Cay melomys (Melomys rubicola), the only mammal endemic to the Great Barrier Reef. Its extinction in 2016 was the first attributed to climate change. The small island where the melomys lived was inundated multiple times by rising sea levels, killing the animals and destroying their habitat.56 39. The recognition that we all benefit from the interwoven planetary web of biodiversity, and that we are all harmed by its degradation, has led to the adoption of many conservation agreements.57 The one with the widest scope is the Convention on Biological Diversity, whose preamble affirms that the conservation of biological diversity is a common concern of humankind and whose objectives are “the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources”. Through the Convention and other agreements, States have identified the steps necessary to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity. If implemented, these measures would protect biodiversity and satisfy the joint obligation of States to cooperate to protect the human rights dependent upon biodiversity. 40. The enormous problem is that the agreements have often not been effectively implemented and their goals have not been met. As a result, biodiversity continues to decrease at unsustainable rates. There are many examples of failures to protect biodiversity, but the present report focuses on efforts made pursuant to the Convention on Biological Diversity. To meet its objectives, the Convention requires each party to take specific measures, “as far as possible and as appropriate”, including developing national plans for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity (art. 6), identifying and monitoring 56 57 Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks and the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. Michael Slezak, “Revealed: first mammal species wiped out by human-induced climate change”, The Guardian (14 June 2016). See, e.g., the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. See, generally, United Nations Environment Programme, Understanding Synergies and Mainstreaming among the Biodiversity-related Conventions (2016). 13