Relating characteristics of global biodiversity targets to reported progress.

To inform governmental discussions on the nature of a revised Strategic Plan on Biodiversity of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), we reviewed the relevant literature and assessed the framing of the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets in the current Strategic Plan. We asked international experts from non-governmental organizations, academia, government agencies, international organizations, research institutes and the CBD to score the Aichi Targets and their constituent elements against a set of 'SMART'-based criteria: Specific, Measurable, Ambitious, Realistic, Unambiguous, Scalable and Comprehensive (excluding 'Time-bound' as all targets are bound to 2015 or 2020). We then investigated the relationship between these expert scores and reported progress towards the target elements using the findings from two global progress assessments (Global Biodiversity Outlook and the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services). We analysed the data using ordinal logistic regressions and found significant positive relationships (p <0.05) between progress and the extent to which the target elements were perceived to be measurable, realistic, unambiguous and scalable. We found some evidence of a relationship between progress and specificity of the target elements, but no relationship between progress and ambition. Our study is the first to show evidence of associations between progress and the extent to which the Aichi Targets meet certain 'SMART' criteria. As negotiations around the post-2020 biodiversity framework proceed, decision-makers should strive to ensure that any new or revised targets are effectively structured and clearly worded to allow the translation of targets into actionable policies that are successfully implemented nationally, regionally and globally. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.