COP15 | The challenge of creating a “Montréal moment”

(The previous game plan to restore nature was a failure, so the pressure is high for the one to be developed in Montreal to succeed.) The mandate of the United Nations conference on biodiversity to be held in Montreal from December 7 to 19 is titanic: setting a global framework for nature restoration by 2030.

“It’s the biggest biodiversity COP that there has ever been”, summarizes Jean Lemire.

The well-known biologist, filmmaker and navigator has been Quebec’s emissary for climate change and northern and Arctic issues for five years — he was appointed by the Liberal government of Philippe Couillard.

In this capacity, he was closely involved in the preparation of this 15^e conference of the parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the outcome of which promises to be as important for the protection of nature as the Paris conference was for the fight against climate change.

“We want to create a Montreal moment, like there was a Paris moment,” he says.

Work to be done

The task promises to be all the more difficult in Montreal as the previous framework, adopted in 2010 in the prefecture of Aichi, Japan, was a failure.

“None of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets will be fully achieved,” asserted the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), headquartered in Montreal, in its most recent report.

The delay to catch up is therefore colossal, and “there remains a lot, a lot of work to do”, ten days before the start of the meeting, recognizes Jean Lemire, who explains that the discussions began in 2018 – COP15 was initially to to be held in 2020, but was postponed due to the pandemic.

“Rarely have I seen such slow negotiation; we will have to move into second gear”, he said, specifying that a negotiation session will precede the official start of COP15 “to try to move the text forward”.

Nature in peril

Preserving nature is “not just a question of saving animals and plants”, insists Jean Lemire.

“It’s much broader,” he says, emphasizing our dependence on nature to feed us, breathe, heal us, house us, clothe us.

“Our economy is based on the exploitation of natural resources,” he recalls.

The protection of biodiversity is also closely linked to the fight against climate change and the achievement of carbon neutrality, emphasizes Jean Lemire.

“There’s a race right now to find carbon sinks, and that’s nature, wetlands, oceans,” he says.

30% target for 2030

One of the flagship proposals of the global framework for nature restoration is the protection of 30% of land and oceans by 2030, globally.

“The main nodes, as in the COPs on the climate, are the financing and the means of implementing it in the countries of the South”, indicates Alice de Swarte, principal director of the Quebec section of the Society for Nature and Parks. (SNAP).

She still says she is optimistic that the framework will be adopted: “Most of the work is done, what is missing is political adoption. »

Nevertheless, in the UN system, decisions must be taken unanimously, recalls Jean Lemire, who foresees “a lot of corridor work”.

Addressing the “underlying causes”

If the international community has failed to achieve the Aichi Objectives that it set itself in 2010, it is because they only tackle the direct causes of the destruction of nature, such as the protection of species threatened, sustainable fishing, pollution.

“But scientists tell us that we must tackle the underlying causes of the decline in biodiversity,” says Alice de Swarte, citing the level of household consumption, the volume of world trade, demographic pressure.

“It is essential, if we want to achieve the 2030 targets, to have this discussion,” she says, calling for the integration of biodiversity issues into social and political decision-making.

COP15 also has other objectives to ensure that the commitments that will be made are accompanied by concrete actions and means, especially since rapid implementation is essential, given the accumulated delay, says Ms.^me by Swarte.

The financial shortfall to restore biodiversity is estimated at 700 billion US dollars (934 billion CAN) by 2030, recall the United Nations.

Saving nature, one investment at a time

The Quebec finance community is actively promoting its expertise in sustainable investment at the Montreal Conference on Biological Diversity (COP15).

“There is a new appetite for taking an interest in biodiversity issues,” notes Geneviève Morin, President and CEO of Fondaction, the socially responsible investment fund of the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN).

“It started with the climate, but there is an extension to the services that nature provides,” she says.

Some investors are no longer concerned only with the carbon footprint of their investments, but also with their impact on the destruction of nature.

And Quebec has “strong leadership” in this area, according to the senior director of the Quebec section of the Society for Nature and Parks (SNAP), Alice de Swarte.

“There is 50% of the GDP [produit intérieur brut] that depends on biodiversity, and the private sector and investors have understood this very well and are already integrating the risks of biodiversity loss into their investment strategies,” she adds.

Companies that conduct their activities by limiting their ecological impact, or that offer solutions to biodiversity loss and the climate crisis, are the ones investors should seek out, believes Geneviève Morin.

The world of finance is slowly realizing that nature has value, whether it’s the role of animals in ecosystems, carbon capture by plants or the impact of nature on human health. , illustrates Geneviève Morin.

“It was all taken for granted, we thought it happened on its own, but people realize that by pushing the limits, you compound the problems,” she says.

Governments won’t do it alone

Investing in the restoration and preservation of natural environments is all the more relevant since governments cannot bear the financial burden of restoring biodiversity alone, believes Geneviève Morin.

“Nature conservation is more funded by the public, but the thing is, we need to triple that funding, and it can’t come from governments,” she says.

The world of finance is still hesitant about these investments, recognizes without hesitation Geneviève Morin, who is counting on COP15 to change things.

“Financiers tend to like things known, and biodiversity is a little less known,” she says. But for things to move forward, there have to be frontrunners who offer others to board. »