30x30 Target: Mining and Oil Blocks Overlap Protected Areas, Says New Report Before COP17
A new report says the world's "30x30" goal (protecting 30% of land and 30% of water by 2030) is being slowed down by extractive industries, that is, mining, oil and gas companies that take resources out of the ground.
The report was released by non-profit groups including Earth Insight, with the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. It used case studies and satellite-based map analysis of tropical regions.
It found that about 62 million hectares of protected and conserved areas overlap with oil and gas blocks, and about 43 million hectares overlap with mining concessions (land given to companies for mining).
More than 40% of land-based Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in the Amazon are not protected. Over 19% of KBAs face a threat from oil and gas blocks and up to 15% from mining concessions.
With just over three years left, countries have committed only about 23% of land and water. The authors want progress to be measured by real results for nature, not just by hectares, and want 30% treated as a minimum, not a ceiling.
These findings will feed into COP17 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, to be held in Yerevan, Armenia, from 19 to 30 October 2026, which will hold the first global review of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is the world's main plan to stop and reverse the loss of nature. It was adopted in December 2022 at COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal, Canada, under China's presidency. It sets 4 long-term goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030. The best known of these is Target 3, called "30x30".
The report checks how well countries are doing on GBF Target 3. It warns that many areas counted as "protected" overlap with oil, gas and mining blocks, so the 30% may look good on paper but fail to save nature. This debate will shape the first global review of the GBF at COP17.
Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs)
A Key Biodiversity Area, or KBA, is a site that is very important for the survival of nature on a global scale. It may be a forest, a wetland, a coral reef, a mountain slope or a river stretch. A site becomes a KBA when it meets scientific criteria, for example, it holds a large share of the world's population of a threatened species. You can think of KBAs as a "priority map" that tells governments and companies: "These are the places on Earth that matter most for wildlife; protect them first."
The report found that over 40% of land-based KBAs in the Amazon are unprotected and that up to a fifth of KBAs face oil, gas or mining threats. Its key advice is that countries should use KBAs to decide where new protection goes, so that the 30x30 target saves the most valuable places and not just the easiest hectares.
Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs)
Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures, or OECMs, are places that protect nature well even though they are not officially declared protected areas. Their main purpose may be something else: a sacred grove, an army training area, a well-managed community forest, a heritage site, or a city biodiversity park. But because of the way they are managed, wildlife and ecosystems survive and thrive there for a long time. OECMs let countries count these places towards global conservation targets.
Global protected and conserved area coverage has grown by only about 1.1 percentage points on land since 2022, so many countries are turning to OECMs to close the gap to 30%. The report warns that whether an area is a park or an OECM, it only counts if it truly protects nature and keeps out harmful industry.
- 30x30 = GBF Target 3: 30% of land and inland waters and 30% of coastal and marine areas conserved by 2030.
- Countries have committed about 23% of land and water so far.
- About 62 million hectares of protected and conserved areas overlap oil and gas blocks; about 43 million hectares overlap mining concessions.
- Over 40% of land-based KBAs in the Amazon are unprotected; over 19% of KBAs threatened by oil and gas blocks, up to 15% by mining.
- Cambodia: 97% of remaining undisturbed tropical forest lies in protected areas, but 21% of them are threatened by mining and 71% by oil and gas.
- Western Australia: mining concessions overlap 14.6 million hectares (26%) of high-biodiversity areas.
- Since 2022, global protected area coverage rose by about 1.1 percentage points on land (about 1.3 million sq km) and 1.7 points at sea (about 6 million sq km).
- More than 50 countries and territories report at least 30% land coverage; 23 report over 30% marine coverage.
- Colombia (2025) committed to ban new oil, gas and large-scale mining in its Amazon territory, covering over 48 million hectares.
- CBD COP17: Yerevan, Armenia, 19 to 30 October 2026.