The marathon of negotiations to reach the signature of a global “framework” for the protection of biodiversity could well end with an agreement that recognizes the need to protect 30% of natural environments by 2030, but also to provide resources funding to achieve this goal. The draft agreement, however, provides for certain compromises, in order to avoid an impasse, when the conference is due to end on Monday.
It was China, which chairs the UN conference on biodiversity (COP15), which published the draft agreement on Sunday morning, at the end of intensive negotiations held in Montreal over the past few days. This “Kunming-Montreal agreement” must still be adopted, possibly on Monday, by consensus by the delegations gathered at the Palais des Congrès.
The proposal for a “post-2020 framework” retains the crucial objective of protecting 30% of natural terrestrial and marine environments by 2030, while specifying that priority must be given to areas of great “significance” for biodiversity. The wording of this target calls for “sustainable use” of resources that does not compromise protection.
In addition to the conservation of natural environments, the document proposes the “restoration” of at least 30% of areas “degraded” by human activity, an objective considered essential to curb the decline of biodiversity on the planet.
Funding
On the central issue of financing the implementation of the global framework, the COP15 presidency suggests a substantial increase in financial support from developed countries to developing countries: 20 billion dollars per year by 2025, then 30 billion by 2030. The objective, by the end of the decade, would however be to succeed in mobilizing 200 billion dollars, and this, each year. These funds would be public and private in nature.
Within the framework of the conference, developing countries asked for an annual envelope of 100 billion dollars per year, that is to say at least ten times the current international aid for biodiversity.
In addition to subsidies, the countries of the South are also pushing strongly for the creation of a global fund dedicated to biodiversity – a matter of principle – like the one obtained in November to help them deal with climate damage.
On this point, China is proposing a compromise: to establish a branch dedicated to biodiversity within the current Global Environment Facility (GEF) from 2023, the current functioning of which is considered very deficient by the least developed countries.
The text also stresses the need to eliminate, reduce or “reform” subsidies harmful to biodiversity. These can, for example, be used to support unsustainable fisheries or harmful agricultural practices. By 2030, we aim to reduce these subsidies by $500 billion.
Pollution
The reduction of the “risks” represented by “all sources” of pollution by 2030 is also included in the draft agreement, which specifies that they should be reduced “to levels which are not harmful to biodiversity and functioning of ecosystems. With regard to “plastic pollution”, the need to reduce and gradually eliminate it is indicated.
This “target seven” does not, however, provide any quantified target for reducing the use of pesticides, simply evoking the need to “reduce the overall risk” represented by these products widely used in the world. If they manage to agree on the proposed text, the 196 delegations would nevertheless undertake to turn to agriculture, forestry and fisheries that integrate practices favorable to biodiversity.
The various targets drafted after years of negotiations must make it possible to achieve global objectives, such as maintaining the “integrity, connectivity and resilience of all ecosystems” and halting the extinction of species. attributable to human activity by 2050.
The challenge is colossal to say the least: 70% of the world’s ecosystems have been degraded by human activity and more than a million species are threatened with extinction on the planet. Several experts are now talking about the idea that humanity has triggered a “sixth mass extinction”, the first since the disappearance of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago.
And beyond the moral implications, the whole world’s prosperity is at stake, say the experts: more than half of the world’s GDP depends on nature and its services. What’s more, the majority of drugs prescribed in industrialized countries are derived from natural compounds produced by animals and plants.
Positive signal
The proposal presented by China on Sunday was well received by observers who have been following the progress of COP15 since December 7.
“While not perfect, these draft decisions represent a huge step in the right direction, a call for biodiversity justice and recognition of the role of Indigenous peoples, allowing us to put behind us the record of failure that legacy of the Aichi Targets,” said Eddy Pérez, director of international climate diplomacy at Climate Action Network Canada.
In 2010, the 196 signatory countries of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) committed to implement measures, called “Aichi targets”, to halt the decline of biodiversity in the horizon 2020. None of the targets have been achieved.
Mr. Perez, however, called on the delegations gathered in Montreal to show a burst of ambition. “This Kunming-Montreal agreement should send a message to the world that we will reverse the tide of human-caused species extinction by 2030, not wait until 2050.”
By proposing to protect 30% of the planet, humanity would be making “the largest commitment in history to the conservation of oceans and land”, welcomed Brian O’Donnell, director of the organization Campaign naturally. “Conservation on this scale gives nature a chance. If approved, the outlook for leopards, butterflies, sea turtles, forests and populations will improve markedly. »
“The Chinese Presidency’s draft outcome document is courageous,” said German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke. “By protecting nature, we are protecting ourselves. »
With Agence France-Presse