Shortly before the end of the United Nations Conference on Endangered Species, key representatives of member states expressed optimism about an agreement. “I am very confident that we can maintain our ambition and reach a consensus,” Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu said in Montreal, Canada, on Saturday.
The aim of the World Conference on Nature is an agreement on biodiversity of similar importance to the Paris climate agreement concluded in 2015. Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault was also upbeat: “We’ve made tremendous progress.”
Shortly before the planned end of the conference, French President Emmanuel Macron called on participants to conclude an ambitious agreement. “My message to our partners is: now is not the time for small decisions, but for big ones! Let’s work together to reach the most ambitious agreement possible,” he said on Twitter.
Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) traveled from Austria to Canada mid-week. Like her Union counterparts, the minister represents the EU in Montreal. Austria is campaigning for a new protection target, especially in negotiations under the “High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People”. “Now it’s a matter of negotiating resolutely – and securing a good outcome,” Climate Protection Minister Gewessler said Saturday in a statement sent to the APA.
Observers warned that the conference, also known by its acronym “CBD COP15”, would fail because funding for species protection in developing countries is particularly controversial. The question is whether developed countries will increase their financial support to developing countries to a level that will allow them to achieve the 20 ambitious environmental goals under discussion in Montreal by 2030. About 30% of the Earth’s land and sea areas will become protected areas.
The German government announced an initiative on Saturday aimed at helping resolve the dispute. It is intended to support developing countries in adapting their national environmental policies to global environmental protection goals. The German Environment Ministry said that Germany will support the partnership that was launched jointly with Colombia and other countries with 29 million euros.
At the World Conference on Nature, nearly 5,000 delegates from 193 countries are fighting for a new deal to protect species. The goals of the previous agreement were largely missed. Negotiations in Montreal, which began in the middle of last week, continue until Monday.