From global ambition to national commitments: national target setting under the Global Biodiversity Framework

Analysis of 2,208 national targets provided by 140 Countries 

With this report, PBL provides a comprehensive assessment of collective ambition of Parties for 13 action-targets in the GBF. The report evaluates if the collective ambitions in national targets match the ambitions of the global GBF targets, where these are lacking, what focus, gaps, challenges, and best practices are in the establishment of national targets, and what policy approaches are suggested by Parties to implement the global targets. The report analyses a total of 2208 national targets submitted by 140 out of the 196 Parties (by the cut-off date used in this report, 1 December 2025) for those GBF targets directly relevant to the GBF’s 2050 goals A: ‘Protect and Restore’, and B: ‘Prosper with Nature’.

Review of collective progress towards the realisation of the 2030 biodiversity targets

As part of the GBF, Parties were requested to submit national targets to the CBD, to show how and to what extent they will contribute to the realisation of the GBF 2030 targets. All national targets taken together determine what the collective ambition is towards achieving the GBF’s targets. Importantly, the GBF includes a new element for multilateral governance for biodiversity, namely a ‘responsibility and transparency mechanism’, that holds countries accountable for their promises and actions to realise the GBFs goals and targets. Parties agreed to periodically assess collective, global progress towards the implementation of the GBF framework. The first Global Review will take place at COP-17 in October 2026 in Yerevan, Armenia, addressing the question if Parties are on track to realise the 2030 targets in the GBF and how to enhance implementation and learning if not.

Parties give more attention to ecological than to human elements of GBF targets

Most Parties commit to the GBF as a whole. Across the national targets analysed, most attention focusses on (area-based) conservation targets, followed by species targets and targets focussing on nature’s contributions to people, while (in)direct drivers of biodiversity loss receive considerably less attention. Within the national targets analysed, more attention is given to ecological target elements than to human aspects (such as recognising, respecting and including contributions and rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities). The broad agenda for biodiversity policy set by the GBF targets is not well reflected in national target setting.

The collective ambition in national targets does not match the global ambitions of the 2030 GBF targets 

If all national targets are achieved by 2030, they will still fall short of the GBF's ambition. There is no single GBF target, nor target element, that is fully covered by national targets. Furthermore, our analysis shows that, for the GBF targets with a quantified element, only 55% of Parties at best provide a quantified national target in line with or moving beyond the ambition of the GBF target.

Collective ambition towards GBF Target 3 adds up to 27.5% conserved terrestrial area by 2030 

The collective ambition in national targets comes close to the global target to conserve 30% of terrestrial area of CBD Parties, compared to 15.7% being protected in 2020. This requires an increase of 11.8% in protected areas globally over the 2020-2030 period, compared to a realised increase of 2.3% in the Aichi period 2010-2020. Generally, GBF targets building on the Aichi targets are more often translated to the national level than target elements that were newly introduced in the GBF.

Cross country learning can be enhanced by building on positive examples in national target setting 

Realisation of the targets is conditional to the availability of means of implementation and policies put in place. Depending on the GBF target, a quarter to half of all countries are describing policy instruments for implementation, but whole-of-government and whole-of-society considerations are generally not well reflected. Significantly, across the GBF targets, countries do introduce elements specific to their national context and set national targets for clusters of GBF targets, signalling an integrated approach to implementation.