Conservation abandonment takes many forms and can look like shrinking national park boundaries, forgotten plots of carbon-offsetting trees, and underperforming mine rehabilitation.
Its prevalence is hard to pin down, new research from Australian and international researchers suggests, and likely going under-reported.
University of Sydney researcher Matthew Clark says at least one-third of conservation programs are being abandoned a few years after implementation.
"This blind spot potentially compromises progress announced at events like the Conference of the Parties summit, as meaningful ecological recovery can take decades," the co-lead on the Australian and international research said.
"If we only count the implementation of programs, this will inflate estimates of progress."
Annual United Nations climate change talks are under way in Brazil.
Under the Paris Agreement, signatories are trying to keep temperature rise well below 2C, a goal reliant on conserving forests and nature to draw down carbon.
The Trump administration has chosen to leave the global climate pact and cut about $US360 million ($A560 million) in funding for international conservation initiatives.
States have also pledged to protect 30 per cent of the planet's land and sea by 2030 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Monash University associate professor Carly Cook said the informal abdicating of conservation responsibilities would be much harder to track than exiting treaties or other formal announcements.
"It falls under the banner of abdicating responsibilities and walking away from from commitments that have been previously made," she told AAP.
Australia is not immune to conservation backsliding.
Assoc Prof Cook said Australia's track record was "disappointing", with more than one million square kilometres of marine parks experiencing protection downgrades at some point.
Keeping track of watered-down commitments is hard, reliant on anecdotal evidence and tip-offs from local communities.
"Governments are not making a big fuss when they're removing protections," she said.
Short-term funding cycles for projects were a major driver of ditched conservation programs worldwide, as were new governments walking away from earlier commitments after coming to power.
"If we can find ways to make it harder for governments to walk away from long-term commitments, that would be that would be a real benefit," Assoc Prof Cook said.
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