This study is a response to a knowledge-for-policy request submitted to the EC Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity (KCBD) by the EC Directorate General for the Environment (DG ENV) through the KCBD ticketing system. The 7th National Reports (7NRs) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), submitted by CBD Parties in February 2026, represent the first reporting cycle under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). In anticipation of the global report on collective progress under the KMGBF currently being prepared by the CBD Secretariat, this study offers an early picture of how the EU and its Member States are progressing collectively against the global targets. It draws on the 7NRs submitted by 17 EU Member States and the EU itself. The study finds that EU Parties report broad alignment with the KMGBF across most of their national targets. At the same time, the 7NRs reveal implementation gaps: for 17 of the 23 global targets, most EU Parties report that they are not on track to achieve their corresponding national targets by 2030. Under the main analysis, a majority of EU Parties report ‘On track’ or ‘Achieved’ for only five global targets, with the highest levels of progress reported for Biosafety (13 of 18 Parties) and Genetic Resources and Access and Benefit Sharing (12 of 18 Parties) — both underpinned by established international legal frameworks. For individual targets, the precise counts are sensitive to the analytical tie-breaking convention applied. The number of targets where a majority of Parties report insufficient progress is itself uncertain, ranging from 10 to 17 targets depending on the convention used. Across targets, Parties report a recurring set of implementation challenges, including limited long-term financing, capacity constraints, fragmented responsibilities across governance levels, uneven integration of biodiversity into sectoral strategies and regulations, and persistent gaps in monitoring, baseline data, and the use of knowledge in practice. Parties further point to competing land-use demands and continuing pressures on biodiversity. This preliminary overview is intended to inform internal EU discussions on shared challenges and opportunities to accelerate collective progress, and close the identified gaps before the 2030 deadline.

MONTEREALE GAVAZZI Giacomo;  JOELSON Natalia;  CORREA Roberto;  VENTOCILLA Jorge Luis; 

VASILAKOPOULOS Paris;  VELASCO GOMEZ Diana Marcela; 

2026-07-07

Publications Office of the European Union

JRC146677

978-92-68-41269-5 (online),   

1831-9424 (online),   

EUR 40777,    OP KJ-01-26-289-EN-N (online),   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC146677,   

10.2760/7423104 (online),