Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Aiming higher to bend the curve of biodiversity loss

Nature Sustainability volume 1, pages 448–451 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

An Author Correction to this article was published on 10 August 2020

This article has been updated

The development of the post-2020 strategic plan for the Convention on Biological Diversity provides a vital window of opportunity to set out an ambitious plan of action to restore global biodiversity. The components of such a plan, including its goal, targets and some metrics, already exist and provide a roadmap to 2050.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Biodiversity declines have continued despite repeated policy commitments aimed at slowing or halting the rate of loss.
Fig. 2: Required trajectories for three biodiversity indicators.

Change history

References

  1. Tittensor, D. P. et al. Science 346, 241–244 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. McRae, L., Deinet, S. & Freeman, R. PLoS ONE 12, e0169156 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Proença, V. & Pereira, H. M. Ref. Mod. Life Sci. https://doi.org/csjx (2017).

  4. Thomas, C. D. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 19187–19188 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Newbold, T. et al. Nature 520, 45–50 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Griscom, B. W. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 114, 11645–11650 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Oliver, T. H. et al. Trends Ecol. Evol. 30, 673–684 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Isbell, F. et al. Nature 546, 65–72 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Pacala, S. & Socolow, R. Science 305, 968–972 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Butchart, S. H. M. et al. PLoS ONE 2, e140 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Newbold, T. et al. Science 353, 288–291 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Mace, G. M. et al. Glob. Environ. Change 28, 289–297 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Steffen, W. et al. Science 347, 1259855 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Obersteiner, M. et al. Sci. Adv. 2, e1501499 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. van Vuuren, D. P. et al. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 98, 303–323 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge advice and input from L. McRae, M. Obersteiner, D. van Vuuren, D. Nel, R. Shaw, N. Sticzy, M. Wright and L. Young. We also received helpful comments from H. Pereira. S.E.C. acknowledges part-funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Earth Resilience in the Anthropocene, grant no. ERC-2016-ADG 743080).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK

    Georgina M. Mace

  2. WWF UK, Woking, UK

    Mike Barrett

  3. UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK

    Neil D. Burgess

  4. Centre for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, The Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Neil D. Burgess

  5. Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Sarah E. Cornell

  6. Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, UK

    Robin Freeman

  7. WWF Netherlands, Zeist, Netherlands

    Monique Grooten

  8. Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK

    Andy Purvis

Authors
  1. Georgina M. Mace
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mike Barrett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Neil D. Burgess
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sarah E. Cornell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Robin Freeman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Monique Grooten
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Andy Purvis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Georgina M. Mace.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Fig. 1, Supplementary Tables 1,2

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mace, G.M., Barrett, M., Burgess, N.D. et al. Aiming higher to bend the curve of biodiversity loss. Nat Sustain 1, 448–451 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0130-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0130-0

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing