European Union’s strict conservation targets should guide global marine policy

The Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity aims to conserve 30% of Earth’s lands and waters by 2030. But many marine protected areas are poorly managed and allow harmful practices such as destructive fishing (E. P. Pike et al. Conserv. Lett. 17, e13020; 2024). This creates ‘paper parks’ — areas that are protected on paper but lack real ecological impact.