It is now well established that human-induced species extinctions and habitat degradation are currently occurring at unprecedented rates. To halt and reverse this decline, the international community adopted the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), as part of the Kunming–Montreal Biodiversity Package, in December 2022. We clarify what this new framework means for conservation zoos and aquariums in their mission to prevent species extinction by highlighting areas of focus. We explain why it is necessary that conservation zoos and aquariums establish the appropriate mechanisms for contributing towards such a framework to help validate their role in the 21st Century. Conservation zoos and aquariums should be reassured that much of their work already fits within the GBF. However, the current mechanisms for individual zoos and aquariums to directly contribute to the implementation of the GBF mostly rely on close collaboration with individual national governments and/or are only possible at a national level. It is therefore critical that national, regional, and global zoo membership organisations take a leading role in championing the work of their members. Equally, adequately linking the efforts of zoos and aquariums to the national implementation of international instruments, such as the GBF, is imperative to ensure that these organizations’ contributions feed into the understanding we have of global progress towards the implementation of international instruments.