A/HRC/34/49 44. The secretariat noted that over 170 States had developed national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and reported that “in many countries, the preparation of strategies has stimulated the development of additional laws and programmes, and spurred action on a broad range of issues, including: the eradication or control of alien invasive species; using biodiversity sustainably; the protection of traditional knowledge and rules to ensure local communities share benefits from bio-prospecting which might result in patents or sales of new drugs, foods or cosmetics; the safe use of biotechnology; and maintaining the diversity of plants and animals used in agriculture”.64 However, it stated that relatively few parties had fully integrated the 2010 biodiversity targets into their national strategies. Moreover, few countries were using national biodiversity strategies and action plans as effective tools for integrating biodiversity into broader policies and planning processes. 65 45. In response to the failure to meet the objectives of the 2002 strategic plan, the parties to the Convention adopted another strategic plan for the decade 2011-2020. With admirable frankness, the parties recognized that “there has been insufficient integration of biodiversity into broader policies, strategies, programmes and actions, and therefore the underlying drivers of biodiversity loss have not been significantly reduced”.66 They highlighted the risk of “drastic consequences to human societies” if current trends continued, stated that, unless urgent action was taken, “a wide range of services derived from ecosystems, underpinned by biodiversity, could rapidly be lost” and concluded that while the poor would feel the effects most severely, no one would be immune. 67 46. To avoid this outcome, the current strategic plan sets out 20 targets, called the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, each of which includes multiple components. For example, target 5 is to at least halve the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, by 2020 and to significantly reduce degradation and fragmentation. Target 11 calls for at least 17 per cent of terrestrial areas and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas to be included in systems of protected areas, and target 12 is for the extinction of known threatened species to be prevented and their conservation status improved. 47. In 2014, the secretariat of the Convention reported on progress towards the targets. It stated that the international community was on pace to exceed only one of the 56 components of the targets and to meet only four, including the goal of declaring 17 per cent of terrestrial areas as protected areas. With respect to 33 of the components, some progress had been made but not enough to be on track to meet the target by the deadline. This category includes the goal of halving the rate of loss of forests and protecting at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas. For another 15 components, including those in target 12 on threatened species, there was either no significant progress (10) or the situation actually became worse (five). 68 The secretariat drew the obvious conclusion that the status of biodiversity would continue to decline and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets would not be met unless additional actions were taken.69 48. States are not meeting the standards they themselves have set for the protection of biodiversity. In many developing countries, much of this failure may be due to lack of the necessary capacity, and in these cases developed countries and international institutions 64 65 66 67 68 69 Ibid., p. 20. Ibid. Decision X/2, annex, para. 5. Ibid., para. 8. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Global Biodiversity Outlook 4 (Montreal, 2014), pp. 17-22. See also World Wildlife Fund, Living Planet Report 2016: Risk and Resilience in a New Era (Gland, Switzerland, 2016), p. 12 (“On average, monitored [vertebrate] species population abundance declined by 58 per cent between 1970 and 2012.”). Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Global Biodiversity Outlook 4, p. 10. 15