What is the International Day for Biological Diversity – and why is it important?

With 1 million animal and plant species now threatened with extinction, the International Day for Biological Diversity, celebrated every 22 May, becomes more vital with each passing year.

But it’s not just about protecting the huge variety of species on Earth. Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the pillar upon which all life rests, says the United Nations (UN). Over 80% of our diet is provided by plants; 3 billion people get 20% of their protein from fish, while 8 in 10 people living in rural areas in developing countries rely on plant-based medicines. The loss of biodiversity is therefore a direct threat to human health.

Given the importance of this issue, the UN decided to raise awareness with an annual celebration.

Here’s everything you need to know about the global event.

First celebrated on 29 December 1993, the International Day for Biological Diversity marks the date that the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) came into effect. This multilateral treaty, ratified by 196 nations at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, mandates "the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources".

The day serves as an annual reminder of how essential biodiversity is to life on Earth, and also how rapidly it continues to be eroded, through deforestation, the burning of fossil fuels, as well as poaching and hunting, among other human activities. It encourages individuals, organizations and governments to take action to reverse this trend.

In 2000, the decision was made to move the day to its current date of 22 May – partly to commemorate the adoption of the CBD text on that date in 1992, and partly to avoid clashing with traditional holidays at the end of the year. The name was also tweaked to the International Day for Biodiversity (IDB), although both versions are still used.

We are now just five years away from some vital climate-related targets. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set 2030 as the date by which all of its 17 goals should be achieved, while the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022 at COP 15, has 23 targets that must be met by this date.

These collective goals are very much the focus for IDB 2025, which has the theme of ‘Harmony with nature and sustainable development’ and aims to instill a sense of urgency so that the world can meet these targets.

Two of the SDGs – number 14, Life Below Water and number 15, Life on Land – are directly related to biodiversity, but many more are indirectly related to the issue. Among the goals of the Biodiversity Plan are restoring 20% of degraded ecosystems and reducing the amount of invasive alien species by 50%.

To achieve this, private financing is essential, says the World Economic Forum’s Nature Finance and Biodiversity Credits report, which identifies a $700 billion annual gap to adequately fund nature and biodiversity initiatives.

More than 47,000 species are at risk of extinction, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; the world lost over 28 million hectares of tree cover in just one year; and the climate crisis is increasing the frequency and intensity of fires, floods and droughts, impacting biodiversity further.

The UN says that biodiversity loss could lead to more zoonoses – diseases transmitted from animals to humans. But it also points out that preserving biodiversity “offers excellent tools to fight against pandemics like those caused by coronaviruses”.

Similarly, the ocean, rainforests and peatlands store vast amounts of carbon dioxide – protecting them can help us tackle the climate crisis.

But time is very much of the essence. The UN says the world is not on track to meet global climate targets. International days like the IDB keep the pressure on.

It’s incumbent on individuals, governments and businesses to play their part in tackling biodiversity loss.

The World Economic Forum’s nature and biodiversity and ocean initiatives are some of the largest collaborative networks cultivated by UpLink, its open innovation platform. Uplink’s recent successes include the protection of 61 million hectares of the Brazilian Amazon, and the removal of 6.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

Another Forum initiative, the Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA), is a multi-stakeholder partnership focusing on achieving a sustainable agricultural transition. It recognizes that “agricultural commodity production is one of the biggest drivers of nature loss around the world, and land use causes almost a quarter of global emissions”. The TFA brings together around 190 collaborators to find a way forward for agriculture that doesn’t involve mass deforestation.

Plastic pollution, already identified as a threat to human health, is having a devastating impact on biodiversity. Avian and aquatic wildlife ingest or become entangled in it, while invasive alien species are transported via plastic waste.

The 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report identified pollution, including plastic pollution, as one of the direct drivers of biodiversity loss and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted by the CBD COP15 in 2022, specifically addresses plastic pollution in Target 7.

The Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) convenes governments, businesses, and civil society to tackle the 19 million tonnes of plastic waste leaking into the environment each year. With 25 country partnerships, it is the world’s largest initiative working to combat plastic pollution. With support from the Government of Canada, GPAP is expanding its efforts to address the critical link between plastic pollution and biodiversity by supporting local organizations in the Global South.