What is Nature Positive

Halt and Reverse Nature Loss by 2030

2020 Base
line

2030 Halt and
reverse

2050 Full
recovery

What is the Global Goal for Nature?

Nature Positive is a global societal goal defined as ‘Halt and Reverse Nature Loss by 2030 on a 2020 baseline, and achieve full recovery by 2050’. To put this more simply, it means ensuring more nature in the world in 2030 than in 2020 and continued recovery after that.

Read the full definition

  • The global goal for nature…
    defines what is needed to halt and reverse today’s catastrophic loss of nature. It is supported by a number of organizations that ask governments to adopt the goal at the international level, which each country, the private sector, communities and others can contribute to achieving.

  • A global goal for nature embraced at the highest levels must drive ambition in governments, business and society. It will work alongside the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and overarching mission to halt and reverse nature loss. This agreement and a global goal for nature also creates the opportunity for links between biodiversity and other conventions/agreements such as climate, ocean and land degradation.

Why a
global goal
is needed…

Human activities are destroying nature at a rate much faster than it can replenish itself. The COVID-19 pandemic is a warning sign that the decline of nature is destabilizing society. A continued loss of nature threatens not only over half the global GDP, but more importantly human lives and wellbeing, with the poorest and most vulnerable hit first and hardest. As the climate crisis is deeply linked to the nature crisis, both need to be addressed simultaneously to drive a swift transition to a nature-positive, carbon-neutral future.

With climate, we have the clear goal of carbon neutrality, articulated in the target of net zero emissions by 2050, with the objective of keeping global warming below 1.5C. A similar time bound goal for nature, ensures that we halt and reverse nature loss at the pace necessary, in support of climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Launch of the Nature Positive Initiative

The Initiative launched on 6 September 2023, to promote the integrity and implementation of the Global Goal for Nature.

27 of the world’s largest nature conservation organizations, institutes, business and finance coalitions came together to launch a new initiative aimed at driving alignment around the definition, integrity and use of the term ‘nature positive’ and supporting broader, longer-term efforts to deliver nature-positive outcomes.

Find out about the Initiative

We are facing a triple planetary crisis – climate, nature, pollution. We need now to translate this into integrity and accountability to help us move more into a climate neutral, nature positive, and pollution-free world.

Inger Andersen
Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme