COP15: Can the nature conservation agreement save biodiversity?
by Michael Watson (comments: 0
At the World Conservation Conference in Montreal, the UN Conservation Agreement was adopted. Despite vague goals, inconsistencies in the voting process, and missing partners, this is a positive step in the right direction.
COP15: The Counterpart to the Paris Climate Agreement for Biodiversity?
The new UN Conservation Agreement aims to stop nothing less than the sixth great mass extinction on this planet. Certainly no modest goal, for which immediate action would be necessary. Unfortunately, these actions are not clearly outlined in the final declaration. While the adoption of the agreement itself is a positive step in the right direction, December 19, 2022, will not go down in history as the day humanity saved Mother Nature.
Ironically, many hoped that the biodiversity conference would result in the counterpart to the Paris Climate Agreement, whose 1.5-degree goal is already being rejected by many experts. Instead of learning from the mistakes of the 2015 climate agreement, today's agreement seems, in parts, unrealistic: enormous goals are to be achieved with vague measures. On the issue of pesticides, economic interests were once again prioritized over ecological or social factors. The fact that the USA did not participate in the conference, and that biodiversity-rich countries like Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo voted against the final draft, is consistently ignored by the Chinese-led delegation. Unlike the optimism surrounding the Paris Climate Agreement, the "Kunming-Montreal" agreement already shows cracks in its foundation.
Goals of the Conservation Agreement
Nevertheless, the conservation agreement should not be entirely dismissed: Thanks to COP15, biodiversity has been thrust into the global spotlight. For the first time, the UN acknowledges indigenous peoples in the context of biodiversity. Finally, financial resources and networks are being created to explore technological innovations that could mitigate the biodiversity crisis.
As outlined in the final declaration, 193 countries have set four overarching goals:
1.) Ecosystems should be preserved, expanded, and restored to halt mass extinction and maintain genetic diversity.
2.) Biodiversity should be sustainably used so that living organisms and ecosystems can continue providing "ecosystem services," such as cleaning air and water.
3.) The monetary and non-monetary proceeds we draw from genetic resources should be fairly and equitably distributed. Indigenous peoples should be granted more rights.
4.) Cooperation between states, universities, and companies on biodiversity should be strengthened and financed.
By 2030, about 30% of land and marine areas should be protected. Poorer countries are expected to receive nearly 20 billion dollars from wealthier nations by 2025 to implement measures for preserving their biodiversity. Furthermore, harmful (agricultural) subsidies should be gradually phased out worldwide.
Implementation of the Goals
Such noble goals sound good on paper, but the rhetoric of the authors becomes vaguer when it comes to implementation. Phrases like "significantly increase" or "close to zero" are legal jargon, as elastic as the rubber of Southeast Asian monocultures. Whether and how the goals will ultimately be implemented depends (again) on how tightly future statesmen and women define these terms, regardless of geopolitical events.