SINGAPORE: Restoration is underway on 252 million hectares (973,000 square miles) of degraded ecosystems across 149 countries, the United Nations' environment agency said on Thursday, way behind a global target of 1 billion hectares by 2030.
* As part of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework signed in late 2022, countries agreed to restore around 1 billion hectares of degraded territory by 2030, and to ensure at least 30% of the world's ecosystems were under effective protection
* Of the 252 million hectares now being restored, 192.2 million hectares are in Asia, led by China with 127.4 million hectares, according to the UN's Restoration Progress Report, published during a new round of biodiversity negotiations in Yerevan, Armenia
* Terrestrial restoration has reached nearly halfway to the 2030 target, but limited progress has been made on freshwater and marine ecosystems, despite faster rates of degradation
* It added that annual restoration finance needs to rise from $64 billion to $296 billion by 2030, including $87 billion for agroforestry, $52 billion for restorative reforestation and $44 billion for peatland restoration
* It said there was a strong economic case for increasing spending, with more than half the global gross domestic product generated by economic activities that are highly dependent on nature
* Restoring 15% of the world's priority ecosystems could also capture and store 30% of industrial CO2 emissions and avoid 60% of species extinctions, the report said
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