BEIJING, April 17 /PRNewswire/ — A historic agreement on biodiversity was reached at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Montreal, Canada, on Monday.
“The agreement has been approved,” declared Chinese Environment Minister and COP15 President Huang Runqiu at a plenary session in Montreal, to applause from delegates.
The biodiversity agreement, titled the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, aims to reverse biodiversity loss and put the world on a path to regeneration. It includes four long-term biodiversity targets for 2050 and 23 specific “Action Targets”, to be 2030 and covering three areas, namely, biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources.
Important points were agreed by all parties. The most important part of the agreement is the commitment to designate 30% of the world’s land and sea areas as protected areas by 2030, while only 17% of land areas and 10% of sea areas are currently protected.
The deal calls for raising $200 billion from diverse sources for biodiversity by 2030 and reducing or reforming subsidies that could provide another $500 billion for nature. In addition, the sum must be increased to at least 20 billion dollars a year. By 2025, that money is expected to go to developing countries, and by 2030, that number is expected to increase to $30 billion.
The framework also refers to the synergistic protection between biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
During the plenary session, delegates emphasized the importance of putting aside differences and working together and expressed their support for the framework agreement.
As the chair of COP15, China held the first phase of the 2021 meeting in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan province. The second phase took place this year in Montreal, Canada, and was themed “Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth”.
China has always attached great importance to protecting biodiversity and actively promoted the convening of COP15, which came after nearly four years of “marathon” negotiations and several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Whether it is to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic or to enhance the protection of biodiversity and achieve sustainable development on a global scale, solidarity and cooperation is the only effective way to face global challenges,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping by video at the opening ceremony of the high-level segment of the second phase of COP15 on 15 December.
While the talks leading up to the conference remain deeply divided, China has been doing all it can to bridge the gap, determine the course of the talks and ultimately push for the completion of the framework agreement on schedule.
This structure is of historic significance in light of humanity’s aspirations to build a healthy and thriving global ecosystem and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
CGTN: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-12-19/COP15-negotiators-reach-agreement-on-global-biodiversity-framework–1fThFHyR68w/index.html
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