30x30 Ocean Action Plan13 12 GLOBAL OCEAN PROTECTION - WHERE WE STAND IN 2025 The ocean sustains life on Earth, supporting ecosystems vital for biodiversity, food security, economic opportunity, and climate regulation. From absorbing carbon dioxide to producing oxygen and feeding billions, its health is inextricably linked to human and planetary well-being. However, as our dependence on its resources grows—and as our values continue to prioritise extraction over stewardship—the ocean is facing intensifying and cumulative pressures from overfishing, habitat degradation, climate change, and pollution, making its protection more urgent than ever. In December 2022, the international community took a bold step to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by adopting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).1 Among the 23 global targets outlined for 2030, Target 3—often referred to as the “30x30” target—stands out as a vital commitment to conserve at least 30% of the world’s lands and inland waters, and 30% of the world’s coastal and marine areas by 2030.2 It was shaped by scientific consensus and broad international agreement that conserving at least 30% of these areas is essential to safeguard biodiversity, maintain vital ecosystem services, provide economic opportunity, and enhance resilience to climate change.3 The target also recognises that the remaining 70% must be sustainably managed to support a healthy ocean and, by extension, a healthy planet. This target, along with the other interconnected 22 targets, has catalysed a global movement and inspired significant momentum towards advancing strategic conservation initiatives. Coastal and marine areas under this target include the maritime zones within national jurisdiction, such as territorial seas, exclusive economic zones (EEZs), and continental shelves, as well as areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). However, this target is not solely about achieving a spatial objective by a certain year. It also calls for ecologically representative, well-connected, and equitably governed systems of marine protected areas (MPAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) integrated into seascapes/oceanscapes that deliver real conservation outcomes. Internationally recognised standards for MPAs and OECMs from organisations like the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and evaluative frameworks like The MPA Guide underscore that not all MPAs provide the same level of protection.4,5,6 While some allow extractive activities, others provide more robust ecological protection by prohibiting extractive and destructive uses and actively minimising all manageable human impacts. Therefore, the level of protection afforded and the extent to which the enabling conditions for success are in place during the creation and implementation of an MPA are just as critical for effectiveness within their local contexts as spatial extent. Target 3 was crafted to address this dual challenge, requiring not just the designation of areas but their durable and equitable management, particularly in regions vital for biodiversity, ecosystem services, and climate resilience. Alarmingly, despite 9.6% of the global ocean being formally designated as MPAs (0.9% in the high seas and 8.7% within national waters), as self-reported by countries to the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), only around 2.9% is considered fully or highly protected, according to The Marine Protection Atlas (MPAtlas).7 The UN Environment Programme reflected this reality in the Protected Planet Report (2024), released at the 16th meeting of the CBD’s Conference of Parties (COP16) as the first official accounting of 30x30 progress.8 This persistent gap underscores that success hinges on outcomes, not only area, and calls for a fundamental shift from symbolic protection to genuine and tangible stewardship of the ocean.Target 3, agreed upon by 196 countries, is not only a global conservation milestone but also a vital step towards reversing biodiversity loss, enhancing ocean resilience, and securing sustainable benefits for both people and planet. This high-level report identifies and evaluates priority ‘low-hanging fruit’ opportunities to scale up marine protection, with a focus on the largest MPAs that can be rapidly advanced to deliver meaningful progress toward the 30% target by 2030. While OECMs are also essential to achieving the 30x30 target, this report centres on MPAs due to their more advanced state of identification, and because OECMs require more case-specific analysis beyond the scope of this document. Nonetheless, the report provides an overview of OECMs and their value in advancing the 30x30 target (see OECMs 101). The report also reviews existing protection mechanisms, highlights promising developments for new and expanded protections within national jurisdiction, as well as in the high seas (see Appendix 1), and addresses key challenges in translating ambition into action. This report culminates in an Action Plan intended to inform and primarily support all governments— as well as the wider ocean community—in effectively delivering on the commitments set out in Target 3. While the core audience is national governments, the Plan is especially relevant to agencies and ministries responsible for ocean, environment, planning, finance, and cross- sector coordination. It also serves international delegates and national focal points engaged in multilateral fora—such as the CBD, BBNJ, regional seas conventions, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and the International Seabed Authority (ISA)—who play a key role in connecting global commitments with domestic policy, and ensuring these priorities are carried back to the right institutions. Their ability to bridge international ambition with national action will be critical to achieving 30x30.Photo: Image-Source / Envato Elements

30x30 Ocean Action Plan 2025