We learned in May that the 2010 Biodiversity Target, to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss, had been missed.

World leaders are going to meet again in Nagoya, Japan this October and hopefully adopt a new ambitious target for 2020 and a longer-term vision for 2050. Many are skeptical of the new plans and want to see more action and less paper and ink.

The Guardian, a British national newspaper, has launched a new campaign, Biodiversity 100, to pressure governments to take more serious action towards conserving biodiversity. They’re compiling a list of 100 tasks to forward to governments and ask them to sign a commitment to action – before going to Nagoya. The tasks will address the G20 countries given that they have no excuses not to meet their obligations.

The campaign is seeking actions that are aimed at protecting ecosystems or species, backed with strong scientific evidence and that are politically costly or opposed by interest groups. The more specific the tasks the better! For example, stopping a destructive industrial project such as the Mackenzie Gas Project or the Northern Gateway Pipeline, or changing or passing law such as repealing the harmful Schedule 2 of the Metal Mining and Effluent Regulations (MMER).