Halfway through the UN’s Cop15 biodiversity talks in Montreal, there has been no real progress on the pivotal goals of conservation funding for developing nations, protecting 30 percent of the world’s land and oceans by 2030, and recognising the role indigenous people play in safeguarding nature.
The final week of negotiations will take on greater urgency from Thursday as environment ministers of the 196 members of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) enter the fray.
Scientists warn that humans are causing unprecedented damage to the natural environment, with more than a million animal and plant species threatened with extinction.
Officials have until 19 December to hammer out a “peace pact with nature” – a 10-year framework establishing how to stop and reverse the damage inflicted on ecosystems across the globe.
Race against time
At the weekend Brazil repeated calls for financial subsidies for developing nations of “at least $100 billion per year, or 1 percent of world GDP until 2030”.
“An area larger than Switzerland was ripped off the Amazon rainforest in the past four years, stimulated by (outgoing Brazilian president Jair) Bolsonaro’s anti-environmental agenda,” said Paulo Adario of Greenpeace Brazil.
“This is no time for stalling and playing games. The next 10 years are crucial and the future of all living beings on the planet, including our children and grandchildren, are at stake today.”
Finance giants weigh in
Meanwhile on Tuesday some 150 financial institutions issued a joint statement urging world leaders to adopt an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework.
“We are witnessing a growing movement,” said Anita de Horde, co-founder of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation.
“Biodiversity is becoming a concern for financial institutions of all sizes and types across the world.
“But voluntary action alone will be insufficient to change practices across the financial sector in a way that protects and restores biodiversity at the rate and scale required.”
