New analysis finds protecting 30% of the planet by 2030 remains within reach – but ocean protection is lagging

• Government commitments are set to increase protection on land to approximately 27%, but just 12% of the global ocean by 2030.
• Findings highlight Indigenous leadership and scaling conservation finance towards the USD 100-180 billion needed annually as key pathways to achieving the global target.

New York, 23 September – The global goal to protect and conserve at least 30% of the world’s land and ocean by 2030 (30×30) remains within reach, but governments must accelerate action to get there, according to a major new assessment launched today by Campaign for Nature and Together for the Ocean. Existing commitments could protect almost 30% of the world’s land and inland waters by 2030, but ocean protection is lagging.

The 30×30 Global Assessment, the most comprehensive analysis to date of global progress towards the biodiversity target agreed by governments in 2022, finds that significant progress has already been made. The assessment shows the world is not currently moving fast enough to reach the target, and outlines the key actions that countries must take to close the gap. The assessment is accompanied by the Ocean Protection Gap Report 2026, which offers a deep complementary analysis of progress in the ocean, where the implementation gap is greatest. Together, the reports explore how 30×30 is advancing globally across land and sea while setting out the actions needed to accelerate effective protection through 2030. 

The assessment found that around 20% of land and inland waters are now designated as protected or conserved. Fully delivering on existing quantified government commitments could increase this to approximately 27% by 2030, closing much of the remaining gap in coverage.

However, both the assessment and the Ocean Protection Gap Report show that progress at sea is much further behind. Currently, 10% of the global ocean is designated for conservation, whilst existing quantified national commitments would increase this to about 12% by 2030. Additionally, just 3.5% of the ocean is currently assessed as effectively protected, meaning destructive activity is excluded or reduced within the protected areas.¹ 

Dr. Frans Timmermans, Former First Vice-President of the European Commission, said: “

“World leaders must understand that protecting nature should be a core pillar in combating climate change. Conserving intact landscapes and restoring degraded ecosystems strengthens carbon mitigation and significantly increases climate resilience, protecting communities from extreme weather while providing clean air and water. This summer could be a turning point if world leaders recognize that biodiversity conservation and climate change must be among their top priorities, not just for the sake of nature, but for our own survival.”

The findings show that governments can close the gaps by moving rapidly from commitments to implementation, while dramatically increasing finance, formally recognising the rights and leadership of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, accelerating action through the High Seas Treaty, and ensuring that new and existing protected and conserved areas deliver lasting benefits for biodiversity and people.

Brian O’Donnell, Director of Campaign for Nature, said: “This assessment shows that real progress is being made towards 30×30, and that the target remains within reach. Countries have expanded protected and conserved areas around the world – safeguarding critical ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, and mangroves. It also finds that delivering on existing commitments could close much of the remaining gap in coverage on land, and accelerating action through the High Seas Treaty could close much of the gap in coverage in the ocean.

Crucially, governments have to ensure that protected and conserved areas are well managed and deliver tangible benefits for biodiversity and people, which requires providing the long-term funding they need to succeed. 30×30 should be treated not only as a conservation imperative, but as an investment in economic resilience, climate stability, food and water security, health, and long-term prosperity.”

More government leadership needed to build on recent progress on land 

The 30×30 Global Assessment shows that governments around the world have demonstrated that rapid progress is possible. More than 50 countries and territories now report terrestrial coverage of at least 30%, while countries including Brazil, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, and Colombia have significantly expanded protected and conserved areas in recent years. 

As of September 2026, 132 of the 196 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity had submitted quantified commitments for land and inland waters. If these commitments are fully delivered, the assessment estimates that global coverage could increase from around 20% today to approximately 27% by 2030. 

However, commitments alone will not protect nature. Many countries have yet to translate their targets into concrete, mapped, costed, and financed implementation plans. Governments also need to ensure that expansion priorities important and underrepresented ecosystems and areas of high biodiversity value, and that protected areas deliver lasting and effective conservation outcomes. 

One of the defining challenges for 30×30 is at sea 

Moreover, the ocean is emerging as one of the defining implementation challenges of 30×30. Only a third of the 30% target has been reached, with around 10% currently designated as protected, while important marine ecosystems, including offshore and deep-sea habitats, remain vulnerable. The 30×30 Global Assessment reveals a significant ambition gap: about half of coastal countries currently have a timebound and quantified national ocean protection target, and existing commitments would increase protection by just 3 percentage points (including planned protection in the High Seas).

The Ocean Protection Gap Report highlights that with just 3.5% of the global ocean assessed as effectively protected, harmful activities can continue in many areas counted towards global protection targets. It finds that where safeguards are designated for essential ecosystems, only a small share are assessed as being effectively protected. For instance, 33% of mangroves are reported as protected but just 0.3% are effectively protected, while 47% of warm-water corals lie within protected areas but less than 10% are effectively protected.

Encouragingly, however, a growing number of countries are beginning to shift their focus from area coverage alone towards effectiveness. Samoa and Portugal have increased their effective protection to 25.6% and 9.5% respectively, whilst Indonesia has committed to assess the effectiveness of 19.1 million hectares of existing MPAs. 

The reports conclude that the High Seas Treaty offers the greatest opportunity to accelerate ocean protection, stressing the importance of ensuring designated areas are implemented effectively from the outset. The High Seas account for roughly two-thirds of the global ocean but remain overwhelmingly unprotected, and scientific analysis has identified more than 50 million square kilometres of priority biodiversity areas beyond national borders.

Lance Morgan, President of Marine Conservation Institute, said: “The ocean protection gap is now the defining challenge for delivering 30×30. Governments must accelerate action in national waters, while harnessing the opportunity of the High Seas Treaty to safeguard some of the world’s most important marine ecosystems beyond national borders.

“But designation alone is not enough. The majority of existing marine protected areas are still not delivering effective conservation. Closing that gap means turning commitments into real protection on the water – effectively managed, properly financed and safeguarded from destructive activities – so that these areas deliver lasting benefits for biodiversity, communities and economies.”

Recognizing the leadership of Indigenous Peoples and local communities 

One of the clearest findings from the Assessment is the critical role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in achieving 30×30. Land owned, governed or managed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities could cover more than 35% of the world’s terrestrial surface. Around 60% of known Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ lands have experienced no to low human impact, while more than 40% overlap with intact ecosystems, high-biodiversity areas or areas that play an important role in climate stabilisation.

Long-term conservation success depends on secure tenure, respect for Indigenous Peoples and local communities rights, governance systems and Free, Prior and Informed Consent to determine how conservation takes place within their territories. Recommendations from the Assessment include calling on all countries to take urgent action to recognize and support the full range of conservation pathways, including Indigenous and Traditional Territories that deliver long-term biodiversity outcomes, following the examples of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, DRC, and the Philippines.

Lucy Mulenki and Ramiro Batzín, Co-Chairs of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, said:  “Indigenous Peoples and local communities are at the heart of global efforts to protect nature. For generations, we have cared for and stewarded many of the world’s most important ecosystems. This assessment reconfirms that the vast majority of lands and waters that we own, manage or govern remain ecologically intact. 

If we want to realise 30×30, global leaders must recognize and direct resources to this vital natural stewardship, by working in genuine partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, valuing our knowledge and above all, respecting our rights and our authority over the territories we have cared for across generations. We stand ready to support the implementation of recommendations outlined in the report to advance the recognition of Indigenous and Traditional Territories.”

Closing the finance gap 

Finance remains one of the greatest barriers. Reaching the global nature protection target is estimated to require approximately 100-180 billion USD annually, compared with current annual spending of roughly 24 billion USD. The gap is particularly stark for the ocean, where approximately 16 billion USD is needed annually, but only an estimated 1.8 billion is currently spent. 

The assessment finds that proven conservation models to close this gap exist, including domestic public budgets, conservation trust funds, Project Finance for Permanence, debt conversion, and blended finance. The challenge now is deploying successful conservation and finance models at much greater speed and scale. 

ENDS

Notes to editors 

The 30×30 Global Assessment 2026 was led by Campaign for Nature in collaboration with Together for the Ocean, bringing together the latest evidence on protected and conserved areas, national commitments, conservation outcomes, finance and implementation pathways to assess global progress towards the 30×30 target.

The Ocean Protection Gap Report 2026 is authored by Systemiq and produced in partnership with the Bloomberg Ocean Fund, Campaign for Nature, High Seas Alliance, Marine Conservation Institute, RISE UP, SkyTruth, and WWF International in association with the Together for the Ocean campaign. It builds on the methodology and approach established in last year’s Ocean Protection Gap Report. 

1. The reports use the Marine Conservation Institute’s MPAtlas analysis of fully/highly protected zones as a proxy for the share of the ocean that is currently effectively protected.

Together for the Ocean is a global campaign working to accelerate implementation of the 30×30 target in the ocean. By uniting stakeholders behind shared goals, the campaign helps build political support, strengthen accountability and champion effective ocean protection that delivers lasting benefits for nature, people and climate.