Francis Banville
The One Health approach has gained momentum in recent years with the adoption of global health agreements and action plans, such as the One Health Joint Plan of Actions (2022-2026), the Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health (2024), the WHO Pandemic Agreement (2025), and, more recently, the Lyon Commitments for the Health of All Life and the Planet (2026). Their adoption marks a turning point in the way we view public health by formally recognizing our interdependence with biodiversity and the wider environment. However, most of these plans are not legally binding, and, without indicators to monitor their implementation, States are less incentivized to act.
This manuscript is based on the idea that reusing existing indicators from other multilateral environmental agreements can facilitate the monitoring of One Health actions by reducing the costs associated with the development and monitoring of new indicators. Specifically, we show how the indicators of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF), which are widely accepted internationally, can be reused to retrospectively monitor the actions of the One Health Joint Plan of Actions. We found that:
- 75% of the KM-GBF indicators are directly or indirectly connected with either human, animal, plant, or environmental health
- 91% of the KM-GBF indicators can be used, either directly or after adaptation, to monitor the implementation of the One Health Joint Plan of Actions
This work highlights the important role of biodiversity monitoring in One Health. We believe that biologists can meaningfully contribute to One Health efforts by offering their expertise and tools to better track global health challenges regarding emerging zoonotic diseases, food production, antimicrobial resistance, and environmental degradation.