COP15 Meeting on Biodiversity, Montreal
December 7-19
Talks on New Framework for UN Convention on Biological Diversity Take Place in Montreal
The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is being held in Montreal, home of the UN CBD Secretariat, from December 7 to 19. The CBD was signed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and later ratified by about 195 countries, but notably not the U.S. Today, there are 196 parties to the CBD and 12,000 delegates from these countries are expected to take part in the Montreal conference. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to address the Conference but no heads of state or other government leaders are expected.
The Montreal proceedings are the second phase of a process that began last year in Kunming, southwestern China, aimed at negotiating and adopting a "post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework." The framework would build on the UN 2011-2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets signed in Aichi, Japan in 2010. The Aichi pact set 20 targets to try to slow biodiversity loss by 2020, none of which were met in full.
The Presidency of COP15 is currently held by China where this phase of COP15 was originally to take place in Kunming. It was relocated due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
Huang Runqiu, COP15 President and China's Minister of Ecology and Environment, in a December 3 interview with China Daily, elaborated on the significance of the need to protect biological diversity. He said in part:
"Our clothing, food, shelter, means of travel -- every aspect of our material and cultural lives -- are closely related to biodiversity. Biodiversity provides us with rich food, fresh air, clean water and the necessities for production and life such as clothing, lumber and raw materials for medicine and industry. It makes the Earth full of vigour and vitality, fertilizes the Earth like water and roots [nourish a plant] and lays the foundation for sustainable economic development.
"Data show that about half of global GDP is related to biodiversity. Over three billion people's livelihoods depend on marine and coastal biodiversity. Over 1.6 billion people's livelihoods depend on forests and non-lumber forest products. And about 70 per cent of people living in poverty depend on activities like agriculture, fishing and forestry. As for health care, 70 per cent of cancer drugs are natural products or originate from chemical compounds found in natural products.
"In addition, biodiversity plays an important role in maintaining the natural ecological balance, for instance, by fostering water sources, purifying the environment, conserving water and soil, preventing or mediating natural disasters, safeguarding food security and protecting human health.
"Over the years, the international community has become fully aware that biodiversity is of utmost importance and has acted to protect it.
"However, the deterioration of biodiversity has undergone no fundamental changes.
"In May 2019, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services published a report. It shows that due to human activity, 75 per cent of the Earth's terrestrial environment and 66 per cent of its marine environment have been significantly altered, more than 85 per cent of wetlands have been lost, and about one-fourth of species face the threat of extinction.
"The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said in a 2020 report that 41 per cent of amphibians, 26 per cent of mammals and 14 per cent of birds are threatened with extinction. The global biodiversity crisis is worsening.
"In the face of global biodiversity loss, we humans live in a community of a shared future and no country or organization or individual can remain immune."
Referring to the proceedings of the Montreal conference, Zhou Guomei, head of the international department of China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, told reporters on November 28 that negotiations so far had not been "smooth sailing." An agreement is sought at the Montreal conference which he described as "ambitious" but also "pragmatic, balanced, feasible and achievable."
In last year's first phase of talks, more than 100 nations signed the Kunming Declaration that calls on signatories to urgently include biodiversity protection in all sectors of the economy. Where consensus was not reached was on issues such as funding conservation efforts in poorer countries, Zhou said. He explained that there are still differences on a number of issues. A successful agreement would depend on what mechanisms are found to mobilize resources and financial support to actually implement the objectives of the forthcoming biodiversity framework, he said.
Cui Shuhong, head of the natural ecology department of China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, stated that countries need to "fully consider" the attainability of any new targets.
"We should learn fully from the experience and lessons during the implementation of the Aichi targets, not only to boost the ambition and confidence in global biodiversity conservation, but also to be down-to-earth and realistic," he said.
(UN CBD Secretariat, Government of Canada, Reuters, China Daily)
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 54 - December 5, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmld2022/Articles/D520541.HTM
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