#cop15

A follow-up to the big biodiversity deal that was inked before Christmas

To me the most impressive things (well, all the points mentioned below matter, but these genuinely raised my eyebrows in surprise) are the fact that 30 by 30 was actually agreed to, as it's necessary but still ambitious when it comes down to it, and the centering and acknowledgement of indigenous people, who are all too often marginalized or tokenized.

The main thing is, of couse, will it be properly implemented. It's hard enough to get this sort of thing honored when one nation ostensibly agrees to it, but all these nations combined?

Agreement to conserve 30% of Earth by the end of the decade

Inspired by the Harvard biologist EO Wilson’s vision of protecting half the planet for the long-term survival of humanity, the most high-profile target at Cop15 has inspired and divided in equal measure. The final wording commits governments to conserving nearly a third of Earth for nature by 2030 while respecting indigenous and traditional territories in the expansion of new protected areas. The language emphasises the importance of effective conservation management to ensure wetlands, rainforests, grasslands and coral reefs are properly protected, not just on paper.

Indigenous rights at the heart of conservation

Indigenous peoples are mentioned 18 times in this decade’s targets to halt and reverse biodiversity, something to which activists are pointing as a historic victory. Several scientific studies have shown that Indigenous peoples are the best stewards of nature, representing 5% of humanity but protecting 80% of Earth’s biodiversity. From Brazil to the Philippines, Indigenous peoples are subjected to human rights abuses, violence and land grabs. The language in the text is clear: Indigenous-led conservation models must become the norm this decade if we are to take real action on biodiversity.

Reform of environmentally harmful subsidies

Definitely in the category of boring-but-important, the world spends at least $1.8tn (£1.3tn) every year on government subsidies driving the annihilation of wildlife and a rise in global heating, according to a study earlier this year. The lack of reform on environmentally harmful subsidies was a major failure of last decade’s biodiversity targets, and governments have now agreed on the importance of making a change.

Nature disclosures for businesses

Although the language was watered down in the final text, target 15 of the deal requires governments to ensure that large and transnational companies disclose “their risks, dependencies and impacts on biodiversity”. If implemented, this could be the start of a significant change in business practices. About half of global GDP is dependent on the healthy functioning of the natural world, according to the UN, and biodiversity loss is rapidly shooting up the agenda of corporate risks. Several countries are already developing rules for sustainable sourcing, on products from palm oil to rubber, which look set to spread after the Kunming-Montreal pact.

A way forward on digital biopiracy

Just follow a few simple steps to make a huge difference: savesoil.org/write

More than 650 scientists are urging world leaders to stop burning trees to make energy because it destroys valuable habitats for wildlife.

In the buildup to Cop15, the UN biodiversity summit, they say countries urgently need to stop using forest bioenergy to create heat and electricity as it undermines international climate and nature targets. Instead, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar should be used, they say.

Bioenergy has “wrongly been deemed ‘carbon neutral’” and many countries are increasingly relying on forest biomass to meet net zero goals, according to the letter, addressed to world leaders including Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. “The best thing for the climate and biodiversity is to leave forests standing – and biomass energy does the opposite,” it says.

Governments appear to have signed a once-in-a-decade deal to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems, but the agreement seems to have been forced through by the Chinese president, ignoring the objections of some African states.

After more than four years of negotiations, repeated delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic and talks into the night on Sunday in Montreal, nearly 200 countries – but not the US or the Vatican – signed an agreement at the biodiversity Cop15, which was co-hosted by Canada and China, to put humanity on a path to living in harmony with nature by the middle of the century.

In an extraordinary plenary that began on Sunday evening and lasted for more than seven hours, countries wrangled over the final agreement. Finally, at about 3.30am local time on Monday, news broke that an agreement had been struck.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s negotiator appeared to block the final deal presented by China, telling the plenary that he could not support the agreement in its current form because it did not create a new fund for biodiversity, separate to the existing UN fund, the global environment facility (GEF). China, Brazil, Indonesia, India and Mexico are the largest recipients of GEF funding, and some African states wanted more money for conservation as part of the final deal.

However, moments later, China’s environment minister and the Cop15 president, Huang Runqiu, signalled that the agreement was finished and agreed, and the plenary burst into applause.

Negotiators from Cameroon, Uganda and the DRC expressed incredulity that the agreement had been put through. The DRC said it had formally objected to the agreement, but a UN lawyer said it had not. The negotiator from Cameroon called it “a fraud”, while Uganda said there had been a “coup d’état” against the Cop15.

Amid plummeting insect numbers, acidifying oceans filled with plastic waste, and the rampant overconsumption of the planet’s resources as humanity’s population grows wealthier and soars past 8 billion, the agreement, if implemented, could signal major changes to farming, business supply chains and the role of Indigenous communities in conservation.

The deal was negotiated over two weeks and includes targets to protect 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade, reform $500bn (£410bn) of environmentally damaging subsidies, and restore 30% of the planet’s degraded terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine ecosystems.

Governments also agreed urgent actions to halt human-caused extinctions of species known to be under threat and to promote their recovery.