Ahead of the final round of talks in Nairobi this week, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity confirmed that the Cop15 Biodiversity Conference will now take place in Montreal, Canada, from December 5 to 17, after it became clear that China would not could host the event in Kunming due to the country’s Covid zero policy. It comes after several pandemic-related delays at the meeting, which was due to take place in October 2020, and amid intense frustration with Beijing, which is chairing a major UN environmental deal for the first time. Fears had been raised about the prohibitive cost for smaller countries to participate in Cop15 if held in China, along with concerns about restrictions on civil society, indigenous groups and the press. Q&A
What is the Kunmin Biodiversity Conference?
projection At Cop15 – the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity – Governments will negotiate new biodiversity conservation targets for this decade. The agreement, “a Paris Agreement on Nature”, aims to slow the rampant loss of biodiversity around the world and is part of the UN general plan that humanity should live in harmony with nature by 2050. The summit It was originally scheduled to take place in Kunming, China, in October 2020 but after several delays the first face-to-face meeting is scheduled for December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. Why is it a big deal?The time to take action is over. An international team of scientists, including Professor Paul Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb, warned in January 2021 that the planet was facing a “terrible future of mass extinction, declining health and climate change” threatening human survival. The world has failed to achieve a single goal agreed a decade ago to stop the destruction of wildlife and ecosystems that sustain life. Are only governments concerned?No. At the 2021 World Economic Forum, business leaders said biodiversity loss was the third largest existential or long-term threat to the world and was among the top five risks in terms of the effects, along with infectious diseases, of climate change failure. crises of mass destruction and natural resources. What might the Kunming deal look like?In January 2021, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity published a draft 21-point agreement. It commits signatories to protecting at least 30% of the planet, controlling invasive species and reducing plastic waste and nutrient pollution by 50%. Governments have not yet properly negotiated the draft targets. Thank you for your response. At a meeting Tuesday, officials signed the Cop15 hosting plan near the UN headquarters for biodiversity in Quebec. China will retain responsibility for hosting and hosting the event, and will do so in coordination with the Canadian government. Canada’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said the country was proud to host the conference. “There is an urgent need for international partners to stop and reverse the worrying loss of biodiversity worldwide,” he said. The once-a-decade nature summit will take place after the Cop27 in Egypt, but will clash with the World Cup in Qatar, raising fears of a lack of attention and the presence of senior politicians and ministers, who were a key part of it. Cop26 in Glasgow, Scotland. The final global framework agreement on biodiversity is likely to be negotiated just hours before the December 18 World Cup final. In a parliamentary committee on Monday, UK environment ministers Lord Goldsmith and George Justis declined to confirm whether the prime minister would attend, but said he was likely to play a role. In a statement, Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu said the country would like to reaffirm its continued strong commitment to work with all parties and stakeholders to ensure the success of Cop15. A two-week meeting was held by Kunming in October before the main summit, but most delegates did attend. Photo: Xinhua / Shutterstock Negotiations on the deal are scheduled to resume this week in Nairobi, Kenya, with significant differences over proposals to protect 30% of land and sea, money for biodiversity conservation and the use of digital sequence information for the production of cosmetics, medicines and other products. Governments have never achieved a goal of halting natural disasters, and there are fears that this agreement will repeat what has been done in the midst of concerns about confrontation with the world’s north and south over natural resource conservation. . In March, the end of the Geneva talks saw a dramatic Gabon intervention by a group of developing countries seeking $ 100 billion in biodiversity funding in addition to the $ 100 billion in climate change that has caused Copa27. Despite the clarity about the Cop15 date, Oscar Soria, campaign manager for the Avaaz activism site, said the talks had lost momentum and were a missed opportunity to show leadership in the environment. “2020 is supposed to be the super year for nature led by China. Two years later, Beijing’s indecisiveness seriously jeopardized a diplomatic process to halt biodiversity loss. “Now, this super year of failure can only be prevented by the UN leadership. We have only a few months and a lot of diplomatic work needs to be done. “And while there is now clarity about when and where the next police officer will be, there remains a big question about China’s ability to effectively exercise the presidency towards an ambitious agreement on nature.” Li Shuo, a policy adviser for Greenpeace China, said: “Governments have finally made a decision on where and when Cop15 will take place. This should now focus everyone’s mind on the quality of the deal. This means ambitious goals to ensure strong protection both on land and at sea and a strong implementation package. “The forthcoming preparatory meeting in Nairobi should see the countries move forward with the draft agreement. “The remaining months until Cop15 should be used effectively to unlock controversial issues such as finances.” Find more extinction age coverage here and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features
