Everyone got what they wanted, but not necessarily everything they wanted.
At the UN Biodiversity Conference held in Montreal, negotiators reached a historic agreement that is the most significant effort to protect the world's lands and oceans and provides critical funding to conserve biodiversity in developing countries, AP NEWS reports.
A compromise draft agreement was proposed late Monday night, the day the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity, or COP15, ended in Montreal.
“We have a package in our hands that I think will guide us in working together to stop and reverse the loss of biodiversity and put it on a path to recovery for the benefit of all people in the world,” said China's environment minister (who presided at COP15) Huang Runqiu before accepting the package to rapturous applause shortly before dawn. – We can be really proud.”
The most important part of the agreement is the commitment to protect 30% of lands and waters considered important for biodiversity by 2030, known as “30 by 30”. In 17% of land and 10% of marine territories are currently protected.
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The agreement also calls for raising $200 billion by 2030 for biodiversity conservation from various sources and working to raise another $500 billion. As part of the package of financial measures, it is proposed to increase the annual volume of funds directed to poor countries by 2025. This is at least up to $20 billion. By 2030, this figure will gradually increase to $30 billion.
Then, just as the agreement was about to be adopted, a delegate from the Congo, one of the world's poorest countries with extensive rainforests, stood up and said he opposed the agreement because it did not include a special biodiversity fund that would provide developing countries with 100 billion dollars. until 2030.
Chairman Huang Runqiu brushed aside the objections and the documents were accepted. A legal expert ruled that Congo had never formally objected to the document. Several other African countries, including Cameroon and Uganda, have sided with Congo and said they will file a complaint.
Huang's move to silence Congo has raised fears that the approved framework could be challenged.
Brazilian and Indonesian diplomats rushed to meet with Congolese Environment Minister Eva Bazaiba on Monday morning, according to Leonardo Cleaver de Atayde, Brazil's ambassador for biodiversity, who led the delegation.
Bazaiba agreed. confirm framework program support.
“If this issue had not been resolved, we fear that it could spoil the outcome of the COP and leave a bitter aftertaste,” de Ataidi told The Associated Press, adding that Bazaiba's comments ensured there was now “no reason to doubt in the legality and legitimacy of the approval process.”
Ministers and government officials from some 190 countries largely agreed that protecting biodiversity should be a priority, with many comparing the effort to climate talks that ended last month in Egyptians.
Climate change, combined with environmental loss, pollution and development, have dealt a blow to the world's biodiversity, with one million plant and animal species at risk of extinction within decades, according to one 2019 estimate — a rate of loss 1,000 times higher than expected. About 50,000 wild species are used regularly by humans, and 1 in 5 of Earth's 8 billion people depend on these species for food and income.
For two weeks, delegates from all UN member states tried to agree on what biodiversity protection looks like and who will pay for it. Funding was one of the most contentious issues. In particular, delegates from 70 countries in Africa, South America and Asia left the negotiations on Wednesday. But they returned within hours.
Brazil, speaking for a week on behalf of developing countries, said in a statement that a new funding mechanism dedicated to biodiversity should be created and that developed countries should allocate 100 billions of dollars in financial grants to developing economies by 2030.
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“All the elements are here for the balance of misfortune, which is the secret to achieving agreement in UN bodies,” Pierre du Plessis, a Namibian negotiator who helps coordinate the work of the African group, told The Associated Press before the vote. “Everyone got a little of what they wanted, but not all of what they wanted.”
