After nearly two weeks of intense negotiations, representatives from more than 190 countries gathered at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Montreal, Canada, reached a historic agreement to protect natural ecosystems, curb and reverse the loss of thousands of animal and plant species. The milestone, dubbed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, includes 23 goals to be achieved by 2030.

Nature conservation and protection goals

Among them, some are considered more priorities, such as ensuring that at least 30% of the world's land and sea areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and people, are conserved and restored by 2030 (hence the term "30x30 target"). Currently, only 17% and 10% of the world's land and marine areas, respectively, are under protection.

Making a parallel with the fight against climate emergency, the 30x30 target would be "the master number" of the biodiversity framework, just as 1.5 degree Celsius is the benchmark of the Paris Agreement. The pact also aims to reduce to almost zero the loss of areas of high importance for biodiversity and prevent the introduction of invasive alien species in priority locations.

There are also important targets related to food systems, such as halding global food waste, halding excess nutrients (linked to fertilizer use) and the risk brought by pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals. With regard to the lifestyles of populations, the framework highlights the need to reduce "excessive consumption" and waste generation.

In analysis, Chris Chapman, Amnesty International's indigenous rights adviser, said the pact sets significant goals to halt the alarming decline in biodiversity, but criticizes states for "not explicitly recognizing the lands and territories of indigenous peoples as a separate category of conserved area, which ultimately threatens their rights."

The recognition, he explains, would help protect indigenous peoples from "predations they often experience in areas such as state-run national parks." Representing 5% of the world's population, indigenous peoples alongside other local communities inhabit regions that contain about 80% of the planet's biodiversity.

Finance

Just as the world discusses sources of funding to address the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation can also be reversed with well-targeted investments. To address the financial challenge, the GBF calls on countries to phase out or reform by 2030 subsidies that harm biodiversity by at least $500 billion a year, and increase positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

On this front, the parties agreed to mobilize at least $200 billion a year in domestic and international biodiversity-related funding from all sources, public and private -- currently 80 percent of the resources come from the public sector. A global gap of $700 billion in biodiversity funding is estimated, so the agreement is still to be desired.

And they also agreed to increase international financial flows from developed countries to developing countries, in particular less developed countries, small island developing states and countries with economies in transition, to at least $20 billion a year by 2025 and at least $30 billion a year by 2030. Developing countries were pushing for at least $100 billion a year to move from rich countries to poorer countries, however, the text mentions a fifth of that amount alone.

Monitoring mechanisms

All countries that are signatories to the "Kunming-Montreal" framework are committed to adopting a common planning and monitoring mechanism, with indicators to measure the world's progress in protecting biodiversity. This point is a cause for attention, because the GBF brings a more qualitative than quantitative text, which can hinder the implementation of goals within national strategies and the monitoring of the alleged advances.

"There is a lack of a numerical goal to reduce the unsustainable footprint of production and consumption. This is disappointing and will require governments to take action at national level. However, we are hopeful. Two weeks ago, we had a mountain of differences to settle. Today, we're starting with an agreement that at least begins to heal our relationship with nature," says Lin Li, director of Global Policy and Advocacy at WWF International.

The landmark also calls on nations to require large, transnational companies and financial institutions to transparently monitor, assess and disseminate their risks, dependencies and impacts on biodiversity through their operations, value chains and portfolios.

Although the pact does not have a legally binding character, within a maximum period of five years, countries should report their progress towards the objectives and targets of the GBF, such as percentage of land and seas actually conserved, and the number of companies that disclose their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity. "Without such action, there will be a greater acceleration in the global rate of species extinction, which is already at least tens to hundreds of times higher than the average of the last 10 million years," the GBF warns.

Benefit sharing

In addition to the global biodiversity framework, the countries gathered at COP15 have reached an agreement on the distribution of benefits associated with the use of information from digital sequences on genetic resources - a dominant topic at the Conference given the many commercial and non-commercial applications, including the development of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, improvement of agricultural crops,  taxonomies, among other uses. National representatives agreed to establish within the GBF a multilateral fund for the equitable sharing of benefits between DSI providers and users, to be finalised at COP16 in Turkey in 2024.

Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, said the adoption of the milestone represents only a first step in redefining our relationship with the natural world. "Success will be measured by our rapid and consistent progress in implementing what we agree [...] For a long time humanity has paved, fragmented, overexploited and destroyed the natural world on which we all depend. Now is our chance to strengthen the web of life, so that it can carry all the weight of generations to come. The actions we carry out by nature are actions to reduce poverty are actions to achieve the sustainable development goals, they are actions to improve human health."

Source: Um só Planeta