Evaluating National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans and National Targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in light of distributive justice

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted in December 2022, outlines 23 action-oriented targets for 2030 and four overarching goals to achieve harmony with nature by 2050. As countries begin to implement these targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), significant challenges arise concerning how the benefits and burdens of biodiversity governance are distributed. Implementation measures such as the creation of new protected areas may limit local access to natural resources, or shifts in fishing policies could reallocate quotas, affecting livelihoods. These and other potential consequences of GBF implementation raise essential questions about justice.

While the GBF acknowledges the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, it offers little guidance on ensuring just implementation. Some targets explicitly call for equity, but overall, the framework lacks comprehensive mechanisms to address concerns of distributive justice. Furthermore, the GBF’s monitoring system predominantly focuses on ecological and technical indicators, with limited attention to how the costs and benefits of biodiversity governance are shared among countries, sectors, and communities.

This paper aims to address this gap by conducting an analysis of distributive justice in the implementation of the GBF. It will examine whether countries are committing to a just distribution of the costs and benefits of biodiversity governance, focusing on areas like the establishment of protected areas, resource management, and financial commitments. The project will apply a normative framework for distributive justice that incorporates principles such as contribution to biodiversity harm, benefit-sharing, and the ability to pay while respecting the right to development.

By combining a global overview across countries with an in-depth analysis of a select group of countries, we apply qualitative content analysis to the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and National Targets submitted since the adoption of the GBF. The findings provide critical insights into how countries’ biodiversity governance plans align with distributive justice principles, offering a timely contribution to the 2026 COP 17 stocktake and informing broader global discussions on just biodiversity governance.