At the UN species protection conference in Canada, the draft of an agreement on biodiversity has been on the table since today. According to the plan presented by China, rich countries will increase their financial support to developing countries for biodiversity to at least US$20 billion a year by 2025. By 2030, the sum should increase to US$30 billion. According to the project, 30% of the Earth’s surface must also be declared protected areas.
The latter was one of the central objectives of the COP15 UN biodiversity conference. Funding for wildlife conservation in developing countries is a particularly contentious issue in the negotiations. Developing countries have requested financial support of at least US$100 billion a year from richer countries.
That would be ten times the amount currently flowing from developed countries to developing countries to strengthen biodiversity – and the equivalent of the $100 billion pledged, but not yet fully disbursed, to combat global warming.
optimism about deal
Shortly before the planned end of COP15, key representatives from member states expressed optimism about a deal. “I am very confident that we can maintain our ambitions and reach a consensus,” Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu said in Montreal yesterday.