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Natural Resources

The Role of Working Lands in 30×30 Conservation Targets Emma Scott*, Emma Scott,

A 30×30 target—to conserve 30% of the terrestrial biosphere by 2030—was incorporated into the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) adopted at COP15 to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in 2022. Although the United States is not a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the 30×30 goal has emerged as a target in both federal and state policymaking. In 2023, the Vermont legislature, through Act 59, adopted the 30×30 and 50×50 targets for the state and outlined an implementation process. The legislation passed without opportunities for meaningful input from agricultural stakeholders, among others, and without any hearing with the legislature’s agriculture committees. Stakeholders have since expressed concern about Act 59’s impact on land access, food security, and the local governance of natural resources. And, of course, the land “available” for conservation is sited in rural areas and communities. This research considers how we got here, how states are approaching these targets, and how the process in Vermont can inform adoption and implementation elsewhere. It raises questions of democracy, environmental justice, the meaning of “conservation,” and the role of private interests—including the financial sector—in this next wave of land conservation initiatives.