What the Global Biodiversity Framework says about rights, regulations, agriculture and conservation

The document analyzes the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), highlighting its recognition of Indigenous Peoples' rights and the goal to protect 30% of the world's land and sea. However, it criticizes the framework for relying on corporate self-reporting, lacking mandatory regulations for transnational corporations, and promoting 'sustainable intensification' in agriculture, which may favor biotech and agribusiness. It also warns that the GBF's approach to restoration and conservation may enable harmful offsetting practices and the 'financialisation of nature'.

• The GBF acknowledges the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) over their territories in Target 22 and Target 3, and Target 22 specifically provides for the "full protection of environmental human rights defenders".
• Target 3's goal to convert 30% of the world into protected areas is viewed with caution because historically such expansions have "excluded IPLC019s territories" and led to human rights violations, though the target does recognize traditional territories as a form of conservation.
• Corporate regulations under Target 15 are criticized for relying on "the carrot and not the stick," utilizing self-reporting and platforms like the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) which the author claims lead to "corporate greenwashing".
• While Target 10 promotes biodiversity-friendly practices like agroecology, it also includes "sustainable intensification" and "other innovative approaches," which the document argues may be used by corporate lobbyists to promote GMOs, synthetic biology, and intensive pesticide use.
• The document warns that the GBF enables "offsetting"—compensating for nature destruction through restoration elsewhere—and that the use of "Nature-Based Solutions" may link biodiversity to carbon emission offsets.
• The GBF is noted for missing specific mandates to restrict industrial agriculture, monoculture plantations, and extractive industries such as "mountaintop removal mining, deep-sea mining, arctic drilling, fracking, drainage of peatlands".

APA

Marien, N. (2024). What the Global Biodiversity Framework says about rights, regulations, agriculture and conservation. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GBF-Factsheet-Full-Set-1.pdf

Chicago

Marien, Nele. What the Global Biodiversity Framework says about rights, regulations, agriculture and conservation. Friends of the Earth International, 2024. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GBF-Factsheet-Full-Set-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Marien |first1=Nele |title=What the Global Biodiversity Framework says about rights, regulations, agriculture and conservation |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=March 2024 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GBF-Factsheet-Full-Set-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{marien2024what, author = {Marien, Nele}, title = {{What the Global Biodiversity Framework says about rights, regulations, agriculture and conservation}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2024}, month = mar, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GBF-Factsheet-Full-Set-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }