Editing Biodiversity (section)

==Legal status==
[[File:Hopetoun falls.jpg|thumb|right|A great deal of work is occurring to preserve the natural characteristics of [[Hopetoun Falls]], [[Australia]] while continuing to allow visitor access.]]

===International===
* United Nations [[Convention on Biological Diversity]] (1992) and [[Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety]];
* UN BBNJ ([[High Seas Treaty]]) 2023 Intergovernmental conference on an international legally binding instrument under the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea|UNCLOS]] on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (GA resolution 72/249)
* Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ([[CITES]]);
* [[Ramsar Convention]] (Wetlands);
* [[Bonn Convention]] on Migratory Species;
* [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site#Convention and background|Convention concerning the Protection of the World's Cultural and Natural Heritage]] (indirectly by protecting biodiversity habitats)
* [[UNESCO Global Geoparks]]
* Regional Conventions such as the Apia Convention
* Bilateral agreements such as the [[Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement]].

Global agreements such as the [[Convention on Biological Diversity]], give "sovereign national rights over biological resources" (not property).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.cbd.int |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=Convention on Biological Diversity |language=en}}</ref> The agreements commit countries to "conserve biodiversity", "develop resources for sustainability" and "share the benefits" resulting from their use. Biodiverse countries that allow [[bioprospecting]] or collection of natural products, expect a share of the benefits rather than allowing the individual or institution that discovers/exploits the resource to capture them privately. Bioprospecting can become a type of [[biopiracy]] when such principles are not respected.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shiva |first1=Vandana |title=Bioprospecting as Sophisticated Biopiracy |journal=Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society |date=January 2007 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=307–313 |doi=10.1086/508502 }}</ref>

Sovereignty principles can rely upon what is better known as [[International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture|Access and Benefit Sharing Agreements]] (ABAs).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Unit |first=Biosafety |date=2025-03-28 |title=The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing |url=https://www.cbd.int/abs/default.shtml |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=www.cbd.int |language=en}}</ref> The Convention on Biodiversity implies [[informed consent]] between the source country and the collector, to establish which resource will be used and for what and to settle on a [[International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture|fair agreement on benefit sharing]].

On the 19 of December 2022, during the [[2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference]] every country on earth, with the exception of the [[United States]] and the [[Holy See]], signed onto the agreement which includes protecting 30% of land and oceans by 2030 ([[30 by 30]]) and 22 other targets intended to reduce [[biodiversity loss]].<ref name="Paddison">{{cite news |last=Paddison|first=Laura |date=December 19, 2022 |title=More than 190 countries sign landmark agreement to halt the biodiversity crisis|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/19/world/cop15-biodiversity-agreement-montreal-climate-scn-intl/index.html|work=CNN |location= |access-date=December 20, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Einhorn |first=Catrin |date=December 19, 2022|title= Nearly Every Country Signs On to a Sweeping Deal to Protect Nature|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/climate/biodiversity-cop15-montreal-30x30.html |work=[[The New York Times]]|location= |access-date=December 27, 2022|quote=The United States is just one of two countries in the world that are not party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, largely because Republicans, who are typically opposed to joining treaties, have blocked United States membership. That means the American delegation was required to participate from the sidelines. (The only other country that has not joined the treaty is the Holy See.)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-12-20 |title=COP15: Key outcomes agreed at the UN biodiversity conference in Montreal |url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop15-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-biodiversity-conference-in-montreal/ |access-date=2023-01-05 |website=Carbon Brief |language=en}}</ref> The agreement includes also recovering 30% of earth degraded ecosystems and increasing funding for biodiversity issues.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Greenfield |first1=Patrick |last2=Weston |first2=Phoebe |title=Cop15: historic deal struck to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/19/cop15-historic-deal-signed-to-halt-biodiversity-loss-by-2030-aoe |access-date=9 January 2023 |agency=The Guardian |date=19 December 2022}}</ref>

==== European Union ====
In May 2020, the European Union published its Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. The biodiversity strategy is an essential part of the [[climate change mitigation]] strategy of the European Union. From the 25% of the European budget that will go to fight climate change, large part will go to restore biodiversity<ref name="Knozowski-2023" /> and [[Nature-based solutions|nature based solutions]].

The [[EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030]] include the next targets:
* Protect 30% of the sea territory and 30% of the land territory especially [[Old-growth forest]]s.
* Plant 3&nbsp;billion trees by 2030.
* Restore at least 25,000 kilometers of rivers, so they will become free flowing.
* Reduce the use of [[Pesticide]]s by 50% by 2030.
* Increase [[Organic farming]]. In linked EU program [[From Farm to Fork]] it is said, that the target is making 25% of EU agriculture organic, by 2030.<ref>{{cite web |title=From Farm to Fork |url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/actions-being-taken-eu/farm-fork_en |website=European Commission website |publisher=European Union |access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref>
* Increase [[biodiversity in agriculture]].
* Give €20&nbsp;billion per year to the issue and make it part of the business practice.

Approximately half of the global [[GDP]] depend on nature. In Europe many parts of the economy that generate trillions of euros per year depend on nature. The benefits of [[Natura 2000]] alone in Europe are €200 – €300&nbsp;billion per year.<ref>{{cite web |title=EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 |url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/actions-being-taken-eu/eu-biodiversity-strategy-2030_en |website=European Commission website |publisher=European Union |access-date=25 May 2020}}</ref>

===National level laws===
Biodiversity is taken into account in some political and judicial decisions:
* The relationship between law and ecosystems is very ancient and has consequences for biodiversity. It is related to private and public property rights. It can define protection for threatened ecosystems, but also some rights and duties (for example, [[fishing]] and hunting rights).{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
* Law regarding species is more recent. It defines species that must be protected because they may be threatened by extinction. The U.S. [[Endangered Species Act]] is an example of an attempt to address the "law and species" issue.
* Laws regarding gene pools are only about a century old.<ref>{{cite book |title=Modern Concepts of Security |last=Ohwofasa Akpeninor |first=James |year=2012 |publisher=[[AuthorHouse]] |isbn=9781467881623 |page=234}}</ref> Domestication and plant breeding methods are not new, but advances in genetic engineering have led to tighter laws covering distribution of [[genetically modified organisms]], gene [[patent]]s and process patents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/patents.shtml |title=Gene Patenting |publisher=Ornl.gov |access-date=21 June 2009}}</ref> Governments struggle to decide whether to focus on for example, genes, genomes, or organisms and species.{{citation needed|date=September 2010}}

Uniform approval for use of biodiversity as a legal standard has not been achieved, however. Bosselman argues that biodiversity should not be used as a legal standard, claiming that the remaining areas of scientific uncertainty cause unacceptable administrative waste and increase litigation without promoting preservation goals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bosselman |first1=Fred |title=A Dozen Biodiversity Puzzles |journal=NYU Environmental Law Journal |date=15 December 2004 |volume=12 |issue=366 |ssrn=1523937 |url=https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/fac_schol/85/ }}</ref>

India passed the [[Biological Diversity Act]] in 2002 for the conservation of biological diversity in India. The Act also provides mechanisms for equitable sharing of benefits from the use of traditional biological resources and knowledge.