Strategic Goal B: Target 8 – Pollution reduced 71 threatening ecosystem health and human
liveli-hoods (see also Aichi Target 10). Plastic debris may release toxins, facilitates the transport of land-based microbial pathogens to the corals, and weakens their resistance to stress through deprivation of light and oxygen. Public concern about plastic pollution has risen sharply in many countries, and this has given rise to a wide range of policies and campaigns to reduce or prohibit single-use plastics in products such
as bags, straws and cups. A recent review found that measures to reduce single-use plastic bags, including bans and levies, ranged in effectiveness from a 33%
reduction to a 96% reduction in bag use.14 Another study estimated that the full implementation of all commitments to date would reduce plastic waste entering the environment by only around 7%.15
Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (‘ghost gear’) is a particularly deadly form of TARGET ELEMENTS
1. Pollution is not detrimental
2. Excess nutrients are not detrimental
1 2
Figure 8.1. Average nitrogen use per area of cropland at regional and global level16
20 0 40 60 80 100 120
Kg/ha
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania World
Figure 8.2. Average pesticide use per area of cropland at regional and global level. 17
1
0 2 3 4
Kg/ha
2002 2001
2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania World
Status
RELEVANT SDG TARGETS
Target 6.3 - By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
Target 14.1 - By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution
marine waste impacting many threatened species.
Forty-six percent of the species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species have been impacted by such gear, including through entanglement and ingestion. It also has impacts on sensitive marine environments, such as coral reefs.18 FAO’s Committee on Fisheries endorsed voluntary guide-lines to address this problem in 2019.19
Electronic waste is another growing source of pollution fuelled by higher consumption rates of electrical and electronic equipment, short life cycles, and few repair options. In 2019, the world generated 53.6 megatonnes of e-waste, 20% more than in 2014. Electronic waste contains several toxic additives or hazardous substances. Only about 17%
of this waste is known to be recycled and growth in recycling is lagging behind increases in waste.20
Impacts of pollution continue to drive species towards extinction, according to the Red List Index (Impacts of Pollution).21 The trend of this indicator continued downwards from 2010 through to 2016, indicating that that pollution levels remained detri-mental to biodiversity by increasing extinction risk within these groups.
A number of international conventions promote action to reduce particular sources of pollution, including the Basel, Rotterdam and
Stockholm Conventions which target, respectively, hazardous waste, pesticides and persistent organic pollutants.22 In August 2017, the Minamata
Convention on Mercury entered into force. Mercury and many of its compounds are toxic and can have a range of impacts on species, ecosystems and human health. This new agreement includes provisions for banning new mercury mines and the phasing-out of existing ones.23
Seventy percent of NBSAPs contain targets related to Aichi Biodiversity Target 8. Of the Parties which have assessed progress towards their national targets, more than a fifth report that they are on track to reach (21%) or exceed (1%) them.
In addition, well over half (62%) of Parties have made progress towards their targets but some (14%) report no progress and a few (3%) report that they are moving away from the target. However, only about a fifth (19%) of the national targets are similar to the scope and level of ambition of the Aichi Target. While national targets do address reducing pollution, only a minority address reducing excess nutrients specifically. Only 3% of reporting parties have national targets of similar scope and ambition to Aichi Biodiversity Target 8 and are on track to meet them (see bar chart).
Julia Joppien / Unsplash
73 Strategic Goal B: Target 8 – Pollution reduced
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
The colour bars show the percentage of Parties reporting a given level of progress towards their national targets. (Blue: exceeds target; Green: on track; Yellow: some progress; Red: no change;
Purple: moving away from target). The intensity of the colour indicates alignment of national targets with the Aichi Target (Darker colours indicate close alignment).
Assessment of progress towards national targets
Box 8.1. Examples of national experiences and progress
ɠ China: China has undertaken a programme to engage smallholder farmers to apply enhanced management practices. More than 20 million farmers in 452 counties participated in the programme. Farmers were encouraged and supported by agricultural technicians and field agents to implement practices for high yield (i.e. high-yield), high efficiency (i.e.
high-efficiency) and low pollution (i.e. low-pollution) agriculture. As a result of the project, the application of nitrogen fertilizer decreased by 14.7-18.1%, saving the application of 1.2 million tonnes of nitrogen fertilizer. At the same time, average yields of maize rice and wheat increased by 10.8-11.5% and there was net gain in output of 33 million tonnes.24
ɠ Egypt: In order to effectively address pollution from all sources, Egypt has put several sectoral plans in place, and carried out specific targeted activities. National systems for monitoring water and air pollution have been established. Wetlands are being created to help manage sewage and to reduce soil pollution.25
ɠ Panama: In recent decades there has been an accumulation of waste, and especially of plastic waste, in the Gunayala region. The Guna people have given themselves the task of finding simple, rapid, low cost measures to deal with it. The highest Guna political-administrative authority, the Guna General Congress, has committed to numerous actions on this issue. The most important is a project “Zero Waste: recycling routes in Guna Yala”, which aims to create a centre for the collection and sale of recyclable material and a landfill site for the disposal of non-recyclable waste.26
ɠ The Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance: In 2018 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Vanuatu announced the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance, which calls on 54 Commonwealth countries to pledge action to reduce plastic waste. As part of this alliance the United Kingdom committed to providing up to £66.4 million to drive research and innovation, including £25 million towards the Commonwealth Marine Plastics Research and Innovation Challenge Fund, which will support researchers to address marine plastics from a scientific, technical and social perspective. The United Kingdom and Canada have also launched the Global Plastics Action Partnership (GPAP) to help deliver the goals of the Alliance and further bring businesses, governments and organizations together to develop country action plans to address the plastic problem. This partnership has also received support and matching funding from Coca Cola, Pepsico Foundation and Dow Chemicals.27