In December, the federal government signed onto a new international biodiversity agreement at the COP15 UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal.
In the lead-up to the conference, and throughout the two weeks of negotiations, environmental agencies and the governments of many wealthier nations had called for global protection of 30 per cent of the world’s land, water and marine areas by 2030, or “30X30.”
The new agreement includes that goal. Other goals include the mobilization by 2030 of at least $200 billion US annually in domestic and international biodiversity-related funding from public and private sources, a pledge to reduce subsidies deemed harmful to nature by at least $500 billion by 2030, and a commitment by developed countries to provide developing countries with at least $20 billion per year by 2025 and $30 billion per year by 2030.
The UN 30X30 biodiversity agreement is just the latest of a number of similarly named initiatives. In fact, there are so many unrelated campaigns, initiatives and programs that share the name, keeping them straight can be difficult. You’d think people would want to differentiate the names of their programs.
Since 2015, Ontario Parks’ 30X30 Challenge has encouraged people to spend 30 minutes a day outside, in a park, for 30 days every August. (The First Nations Health Authority ran a similar campaign called the 30X30 Active Challenge in September 2019 for Indigenous people in B.C.)
Engineers Canada’s 30 by 30 program aims to increase the number of newly licensed engineers who are women to 30 per cent by the year 2030. Launched in 2013, the program has been endorsed by provincial and territorial engineering regulators and professional organizations, including the B.C regulator, Engineers and Geoscientists B.C.
For perspective, in 1992, 2.2 per cent of practising engineers and geoscientists in B.C. were women. The number reached 16.5 per cent last year, with seven years to go.
According to Harvard academic Rosabeth Kanter, 30 per cent is the critical mass needed to achieve sustained meaningful change in organizations and in society.
Policing has a similar program. More than 150 police forces across North America have signed on the “30X 30 Initiative,” which aims to increase the number of women among North American policing ranks by 30 per cent by — you guessed it — 2030.
The program started in the U.S., which is reflected in the predominantly American police forces that have endorsed it. Among the Canadian police forces signed on are the Saanich and Delta police departments.
According to Statistics Canada, women made up about 22 per cent of police officers and 18 per cent of commissioned, or senior, officers across Canada in 2021.
For a twist, the numbers referred to in the name of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s diversity campaign, the 50–30 Challenge, are target percentages, not a 2030 target date.
Meant to encourage Canadian organizations to adopt equity and diversity practices, the program aims to increase representation of women, people of colour, Indigenous people, and people who identify as LGBTQ2 or as having disabilities on Canadian boards of directors and in senior management roles.
Diverse workplaces have been shown to be more likely to outperform their peers, twice as likely to meet or exceed financial targets, and eight times more likely to achieve better business outcomes.
Here are some other similarly named programs, international or highly specific:
• The World Bank and UN’s 50X2030 initiative is working to improve national agricultural data collection in 50 low- and lower-middle-income countries around the world by 2030. The idea is that with effective national agricultural data systems, policy makers can make better, evidence-based decisions to increase agricultural productivity, sustainable food production and economic growth and reduce poverty.
• 10x20x30 brings together the world’s largest food retailers and providers, each engaging at least 20 suppliers to halve food loss and waste by 2030.
• Pharmaceutical company Lilly’s 30X30 campaign seeks to improve access to quality health care for 30 million people living in communities with limited resources, annually, by 2030.
• Singapore launched its own “30 by 30” initiative in 2019, with the objective of locally producing 30 per cent of its food by the year 2030.
• In 2017, China’s Clean Energy Ministerial announced its EV 30@30 campaign. The goal is to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles, with the target of at least 30 per cent new electric vehicle sales by 2030.
Just seven years away, 2030 is burdened with high expectations.
keiran_monique@rocketmail.com
