Scientists have warned that it is not enough to expand protected areas or national parks. To tackle the climate crisis, we must stop overconsumption and stop biodiversity loss.

In a draft of the  UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), scientists said much more is needed to make significant difference.

“The target of protecting 30% of all land and seas is important and attracting a lot of attention. And expanding protected areas is a good start if done well, but far short of what is needed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss – called ‘bending the curve’ for biodiversity,” said Prof Paul Leadley, who was a co-author of the report.

“There is very good evidence that we will fail again to meet ambitious international biodiversity objectives if there’s too much focus on protected areas at the expense of other urgent actions addressing the threats to biodiversity.”

“What we’re doing is trying to take the best science and explain why the global biodiversity framework looks like it does. A lot of countries are saying it’s so complicated. We’re trying to explain why you need all the pieces and how each piece fits together,” he added.