Commitments database (NBSAPs and National Reports)

Here, we focus on the implementation of the Convention of Biological Biodiversity (CBD) National Biodiversity Strategy and Actions Plans (NBSAPs), for a usable set of NBSAPs covering 30% of all Parties. We analysed 58 pairs of NBSAPs and Sixth National Reports after aligning measures taken against initial plans. Fewer than half of commitments made with deadlines of 2020 or earlier were evidenced. Moreover, the largest source of missing commitment reports were “omissions” – the commitment was not referenced in the Report. The number and proportion of commitments evidenced varied between the Aichi Targets, with more losses in “high-profile” and “institutionally-challenging” targets, and between Human Development Index categories. Megadiverse countries had higher rates of reported commitment implementation and effectiveness than others, and fewer omissions. Our results are important for informing the monitoring of commitment implementation in the Kunming-Montreal “global biodiversity package”.