Cop15’s ‘historic’ biodiversity agreement

UN biodiversity delegates reached an agreement this week to protect 30% of the world’s land and water considered important for biodiversity before the end of the decade.

Announced by the Chinese minister of ecology and environment, Huang Runqiu, on the final day of the UN Biodiversity Conference being held in Montreal, Canada, the agreement has been “hailed as a landmark global effort to protect the world’s lands and oceans”, said DW.

The biennial meeting, otherwise known as Cop15, has been described as the “last chance” to protect areas that sustain biodiversity following a 2019 UN report that warned that a million plant and animal species face extinction within decades.

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According to DW, “the main drivers of that potential destruction are seen by experts as being climate change, along with habitat loss, pollution and development”.

What is in the agreement?

Currently, 17% of terrestrial areas and 10% of marine areas globally are protected. The new agreement, dubbed “30 by 30”, would see at least 30% of the world’s land, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans come under conservation by 2030 with special attention paid to areas deemed important for biodiversity, including tropical rainforests.

It is part of a wider package of 23 measures agreed by delegates from around 190 countries, which includes $200bn (€188bn) towards supporting biodiversity by 2030. There is also a pledge to “eliminate, phase out or reform” environmentally harmful subsidies, such as those for food or fuel, by at least $500bn annually by 2030.

The deal also calls for richer countries to increase their international aid for biodiversity to low-income countries by $20bn per year by 2025 and $30bn annually by 2030.

Wildlife populations have plunged by almost 70% over the past 50 years, according to the last Living Planet Index by conservation charities WWF and the Zoological Society of London so this agreement has come “just in time”, said Sky News’ science correspondent Thomas Moore.

“Nature isn’t just nice to have, it’s our life support,” Moore warned. “Our food depends on pollinating insects, our oxygen comes from trees and plankton, and many of our medicines are derived from plants. So the deal done at the United Nations biodiversity summit in Montreal really matters.”

Does it go far enough?

“Ministers and environmental groups have praised the ambition of the historic deal reached at Cop15,” said The Guardian, despite “concerns about the legitimacy of the deal after China appeared to force it through”.

Christophe Béchu, France’s minister for ecological transition, called it a “historic deal” even after “the UN conference ended in high drama after a number of countries complained it had been agreed undemocratically by China”, said The Guardian.

“Some felt that this undermined the agreement, which is not legally binding and relies on goodwill and trust between countries – including many in Africa, home to some of the planet’s richest remaining ecosystems,” added the newspaper.

Politico reported on Sunday before the final text had been agreed that China, which co-hosted the conference with Canada, had “presented a series of compromises” to try to find an agreement on a new global framework to prevent biodiversity loss worldwide by 2030.

It kept the headline “30 by 30” target pushed by 116 countries, but “didn’t keep the EU’s idea of committing to restore 3 billion hectares of degraded land and freshwater ecosystems and 3 billion hectares of ocean ecosystems”, said the news site. Beijing also scrapped the EU’s push to halve pesticides use and risk as well as softening the idea of forcing businesses to disclose their impacts on biodiversity.

The agreement was voted through on Monday despite a late objection from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), whose delegates raised concerns about developed nations’ contributions to fund conservation in developing countries.

DRC covers 60% of the Congo Basin, which is one of the key ecosystems the 30 by 30 agreement will need to protect. A third of the region’s tropical forests are under threat from fossil fuel investments, which could unleash a “carbon bomb” into the atmosphere if plans go ahead, analysis by Rainforest Foundation UK and Earth InSight suggested.

This has led some to question whether the agreement had gone far enough.

When asked about the dramatic conclusion to the conference and whether it threatened the legitimacy of the deal, Lee White, Gabon’s environment minister, responded: “Legally, it’s done. Morally, what can I say? It’s over.”