#sbi6

A Barbarian Through the Gates

Our negotiations at the UN Biodiversity Convention have drawn to a close.

Many of the diplomatic skirmishes were clashes of low cunning rather than of high ideals. However, I was uniformly impressed by the diligence of my colleagues on Canada’s State Delegation.

I believe we collectively succeeded in strengthening the foundation for implementation of the Convention.

I spent my last day in Rome wandering through the remnants of its ancient glories.

Rome’s long rise, slow decline, and staggering collapse under the weight of political corruption and social inequality has far too many parallels in the contemporary world.

Day 2 of Negotiations: UN Convention on Biological Diversity

We completed our second day of negotiations on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, in Rome.

A palpable tension is being evoked by some states, which are trying to use the Convention as a pawn in their larger games of global diplomacy.

All the while, species are disappearing at 1000 times the natural extinction rate. Humans, our pets, and our livestock now account for 94% of mammalian biomass, with wild mammals a paltry 6%.

Our survival will hinge on sense triumphing over schemes.

Day 1 of Negotiations: UN Convention on Biological Diversity

Our first day of negotiations at the @UN Biodiversity Convention in Rome focussed on perennial question of who pays how much to whom to achieve what.

In my view, no state can credibly claim any entitlement to international funds, until it acknowledges its ineluctable national responsibilities. Accountability is a precondition for generosity.

Our talks are unfolding in UN buildings that face the ruins of the Basilica of Maxentius, built as the Western Roman Empire was in its death throes. The view is a stark reminder of the wages of unenlightened political leadership.

Biodiverity Convention Negotiations Begin

We have begun our negotiations on implementation of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Is it ironic or apt that we are convening in Rome, amidst the ruins of a once‑great civilisation, which was laid low by political decay and social despotism?

My focus is on holding states accountable, for keeping their commitments to their citizens and to the community of nations.

The high words of the Convention are valuable only if they lead to meaningful deeds to halt mass extinction.

Negotiating the Implementation of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity

This week, I will serve as one of seven members of Canada's State Delegation on implementation of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Our negotiations in Rome will be unglamorous and laborious. I defy anyone to read the diplomatic papers without suffering an urge to nod off.

Yet, the stakes are unutterably high.

We are in the gravest mass extermination since the end of the dinosaurs, driven not by natural planetary catastrophes, but instead by political choices.

Implementing the Convention would give life itself a fighting chance.