This Week in Sustainability News

A lot has been happening at this year’s UN biodiversity summit (COP15). We've summarised some of the key decisions and stories to keep you informed.

What was COP15 about?

COP15 was the 15th Conference of Parties to the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). CBD is a biodiversity equivalent of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its recent climate change conference - COP27.
The conference took place in December (7-19) in Montreal, Canada.
The main goal of COP15 was for governments from around the world to agree on a new set of goals to guide global action to halt biodiversity loss.
A new biodiversity framework was long awaited after governments failed to meet 20 Aichi biodiversity targets agreed at COP10 in Japan.

‍

Almost 200 countries have agreed to establish a new biodiversity framework to halt nature loss by the end of the decade. The US and the Vatican are not signatories of the agreement.
The main targets of the agreement include the ‘30x30’ conservation goal, halting human-caused species extinctions and promoting their recovery as well as mobilising funding for biodiversity in developing countries.
The term ‘nature positive’ which was supposed to be the biodiversity equivalent of ‘net zero’ did not make the final agreement
To prevent the failure of 2020 Aichi targets, countries agreed on a monitoring framework to regularly assess conservation-related progress.
The final agreement emphasises the importance of Indigenous peoples’ rights and territories in all biodiversity conservation initiatives.

The new agreement includes the target of ‘30x30’ which aims to conserve 30% of the world’s land and 30% of the inland water, coastal and marine ecosystems by 2030.
The text of the agreement also recommends the restoration of at least 30% of degraded lands.
Currently, only 17% of land areas and 10% of marine areas are protected.
Developing countries called for the creation of a biodiversity fund to finance new conservation targets in the Global South.
Developed countries agreed to mobilise $30bn for developing countries by 2030.
The final decision included in the agreement creates a new fund within the UN’s existing biodiversity financing mechanism – the global environmental facility. States have committed to future talks about a separate biodiversity fund.

‍

The financial target of $200bn a year for conservation initiatives was included in the final agreement. The money can come voluntarily from any country.
The final pledge was criticised by some developing countries as much less demanding of wealthy countries than necessary, as only $20bn to $30bn a year is to come from developed countries by 2030.
The establishment of a new biodiversity fund was greatly advocated by developing countries. However, a separate fund for conservation efforts was not set up at COP15.
The final text also mentions the need for the reduction of subsidies harmful to biodiversity, such as cattle production, deforestation, and synthetic fertilisers.

The risk from highly hazardous chemicals and pesticides is to be reduced by at least half.
The states have also agreed to start “working towards eliminating plastic pollution”. However, no quantifiable goal on plastic pollution was agreed on.
A new target on the sharing of genetic sequence data derived from nature will establish a benefit-sharing mechanism that will reward countries with the most biodiversity. The decision followed criticisms from developing countries about the huge revenues generated by pharmaceutical companies from genetic resources.
The final agreement mentions that businesses should monitor and disclose their biodiversity impacts. The disclosure has not been made mandatory.
Many scientists and conservation activists have voiced disappointment at the lack of mention of the need for dietary change in the text of the agreement. Livestock production is currently one of the biggest drivers of habitat loss.