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Human population (often treated as overpopulation) has long been blamed as the main cause of biodiversity loss. Whilst this simplistic explanation may seem convenient, understanding the accuracy of the statement is crucial to develop effective priorities and targets to manage and reverse ongoing biodiversity loss. If untrue, the assertion may undermine practical and effective measures currently underway to counter biodiversity loss by distracting from true drivers, alienating some of the most diverse countries in the world, and failing to tackle the structural inequalities which may be behind global biodiversity declines. Through examining the drivers of biodiversity loss in highly biodiverse countries, we show that it is not population driving the loss of habitats, but rather the growth of commodities for export, particularly soybean and oil-palm, primarily for livestock feed or biofuel consumption in higher income economies. Thus, inequitable consumption drives global biodiversity loss, whilst population is used to scapegoat responsibility. Instead, the responsibilities are clear and have recently been summarized by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services IPBES: Leverage points for biodiversity conservation lie in reducing unsustainable consumption through diet shifts, tracking supply chains, and technological innovation as well as ensuring sustainable production to reduce biodiversity losses associated with industrial agriculture. • Population is often mistakenly blamed as the main driver of biodiversity loss. • However such arguments actually mis-apportion blame and hinder progress. • Consumption patterns, largely from developed economies is a major driver of biodiversity loss. • Maintaining global biodiversity will require reducing imported impacts. • Sustainable supply chains and diets are crucial to counter current trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework currently is under development as part of the Convention of Biodiversity's aim to prevent global biodiversity losses by 2050, but targets can only be effectively developed and assessed if the data used for them are fit for purpose. The monitoring framework has been discussed at length and ensuring appropriate data use is critical to target effectiveness, enabling the monitoring of global biodiversity trends and assessment of target success. We outline a vision for how conservation data resources can be improved via automation and other routes to greatly enhance both ease of use and effectiveness for conservation. Synthesis across different types of data is urgently needed and could be enabled by a unified data system and automated workflows for cross-validation between data types, with downstream products such as grades for expert range maps that reflect their underlying bases and data quality and reliability to determine their fit for analysis, as well as automated preliminary IUCN assessments to expedite conservation. Capacity building and collaboration rooted in international agreements will be necessary for these initiatives to effectively function globally to enable new global targets to be achieved for effective conservation and targeted resource mobilization at all scales. • Biodiversity data underpin conservation, but they must be used more carefully. • We must build a unified data system for indexing and improving biodiversity data. • Automation throughout could greatly enhance and expedite biodiversity conservation. • International funding schemes and enhanced career recognition for data generation are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]