COP15 | This ‘orgy of destruction’ must end, says UN boss

(Montreal) Humanity must stop “making war on nature”, warned Tuesday in Montreal the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, at the opening of the 15^e Biodiversity Conference (COP15).

“We treat nature like a toilet,” he said, referring to the pesticides, chemicals and plastics that poison the land, water and air.

“Nature is our life support system” and its destruction has a cost that is measured by job losses, disease, hunger and death, he recalled.

“This conference is our chance to end this orgy of destruction,” Guterres said, calling for the conclusion of a “bold” global biodiversity framework.

Ce cadre doit s’attaquer aux moteurs du déclin de la biodiversité que sont le changement d’utilisation des terres et des mers, la surexploitation des espèces, les changements climatiques et la pollution, mais aussi à ses causes sous-jacentes, comme les subventions nuisibles, les investissements mal orientés et les systèmes alimentaires non durables, a-t-il détaillé.

L’humanité doit assumer la responsabilité des dommages qu’elle a causés et prendre les mesures nécessaires pour les réparer, a-t-il dit en français, rappelant qu’« il n’y a pas de planète B ».

« Tout à fait faisable »

Le déclin actuel de la biodiversité impose d’agir « comme jamais auparavant », a lancé aux délégués réunis devant lui le premier ministre du Canada, Justin Trudeau, qui a commencé son allocution en soulignant l’anniversaire de la tuerie de Polytechnique et nommé les 14 femmes tuées il y a 33 ans.

« Ce n’est pas le temps de se demander s’il faut être ambitieux, c’est le temps de dire comment on va le faire », a-t-il dit, reprenant le sujet de la biodiversité.

Justin Trudeau a notamment souligné l’importance de protéger 30 % des terres et des mers de la planète d’ici 2030 pour « éviter les risques d’extinction [et] ensure our safety”.

This objective, which the delegates will try to adopt over the next two weeks, “was not chosen at random”, insisted the Prime Minister.

No one will get there alone, he however warned, believing that the international community has an obligation of result.

“Our citizens are counting on us,” he concluded.

Major agreements can have major effects, illustrated the Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, recalling the signing, in 1985, of the Montreal Protocol for the protection of the ozone layer.

“Scientists believe that it will be completely restored in our lifetime,” she stressed to delegates from the 196 countries party to the Convention on Biological Diversity gathered in metropolitan France.

“We can also do it for biodiversity, she told them. You have the opportunity to repeat history. »

Not an “ordinary” COP

Expectations are very high for this COP15, which has the mandate to define the action of the international community for the rest of the decade.

“We are not here for an ordinary COP,” agreed Tanzanian Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Secretary General of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, at a press conference earlier in the day.

But negotiators will have to water down their wine, she warned, acknowledging that the Open-Ended Working Group’s discussions over the past few days on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework will not have not made as much progress as necessary.

“It will be necessary to follow the consensus, without blocking”, she urged.

“The next two weeks will not be easy,” agreed alongside him the Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, referring to “different points of view” to be reconciled.

“The biodiversity crisis requires the same level of effort and action as the climate crisis, and there is no time to waste,” he said.

The chairman of the conference, China’s Minister of Ecology and Environment, Huang Runqiu, promised to “continue to narrow the gaps between the parties”.