1 September 2006, New York, USA. Today might be a break-through in the history of the 2010 biodiversity target, as Kofi Annan has asked the UN General Assembly to incorporate the 2010 biodiversity target into the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). His 2006 Report on the Work of the Organisation states:

World leaders agreed to several other important targets at the 2005 World Summit.  I am therefore recommending the incorporation of these commitments into the set of targets used to follow-up on the Millennium Declaration. This includes: [...] a new target under Millennium Development Goal 7: to “Significantly reduce the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010”.

The 2010 biodiversity target would then serve as a stepping stone towards ensuring environmental sustainability by 2015, the seventh Millennium Development Goal. Experts expect that this would create new momentum for biodiversity in international policy making. The UN Secretary General’s Annual Report will be discussed at the UN General Assembly this September.

At the 2000 UN Millennium Summit, world leaders from developed and developing countries alike committed themselves – at the highest political level – to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These eight time-bound goals aim at reducing poverty worldwide by 2015. In addition, at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, the same leaders promised to significantly reduce the current rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. This commitment is commonly called the 2010 biodiversity target.