IUCN Revises Standard for Protected and Conserved Areas to Support the 30×30 Target

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced Version 2.0 of the IUCN Global Standard for Effective and Equitable Protected and Conserved Areas (IUCN Global PCA Standard) on October 20, 2026, at the 17th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17). The new standard revises and renames the former IUCN Green List Standard. The revised standard provides a globally applicable framework for assessing, improving, and demonstrating the performance of protected and conserved areas. The framework is intended to help countries achieve Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, commonly known as the 30×30 target, which aims to conserve at least 30 percent of terrestrial, inland water, coastal, and marine areas by 2030.