The next ten years will see the creation of targets on biodiversity. The world has failed to meet UN targets on stopping the loss of nature, yet awareness of the challenge is growing. We look at why the UN meeting matters and how it could lead to meaningful action on nature loss.
Governments have been meeting for the past 30 years to ensure the survival of the species that underpins human civilization. Climate change, desertification and biodiversity were created at the Earth Summit that took place in Rio in 1992. The goal of the convention is to conserve the natural world, its sustainable use, and to share its genetic resources.
Every decade, governments agree on new targets to protect the environment. The last round was held in Nagoya Cop10 in Japan in 2010 where governments pledged to reduce the loss of natural habitats and increase nature reserves. They failed on many counts.
The conference of the parties will take place in December. China will hold the presidency for the first time for a UN environmental agreement at the upcoming summit in Montreal. The conference was moved because of concerns over hosting an international summit under Beijing's zero- Covid policy and because of delays related to the swine flu.
The climate Cop 27 in Egypt will be followed by delegates arriving in Montreal. The official text is expected to be signed off on Saturday 17 December, the eve of the World Cup final.
Climate Cops are not related to biodiversity Cops. Climate Cops want to limit global temperature rises to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels and aim to limit heating to 1.5C.
The UN doesn't have an equivalent north star. The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of genetic resources is one of the aims of theCBD.
More than 20 targets are expected to be included in the final text of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.
The variety of life on Earth is referred to as "biodiversity". Without plants there would be no oxygen and without bees there would be no fruit or nuts.
In countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, and China, there is a high concentration of plants, mammals, and fungi.
The global economy is based on the preservation of flora and fauna. Swiss Re estimates that half of global GDP is dependent on the health of the natural world.
Humans are to blame for the large loss of life on Earth. One million species are at risk of extinction because of the way we mine, hunt, farm, build and travel. Billions of individual populations are going to be lost in the sixth mass extinction in geological history.
Changes to the climate can be reversed, but extinctions are permanent.
The extinctions have consequences. Humans need to survive and thrive if species are to work together in harmony to do so. The majority of the food we consume is produced in the soil. Up to 40% of the world's land is degraded by unsustainable agricultural practices.
Huge declines in wildlife are being observed. More than 500 species of land animals are on the verge of extinction and likely to be lost within 20 years, with one in eight birds facing extinction.
Go to down to earth.
The most important stories of the world. Get all the environment news this week.
Changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of natural resources, the climate crisis, and pollution are the five biggest threats to the environment.
According to a leading scientific assessment, Earth's wildlife populations have plummeted by an average of 69% over the last 50 years. It would take between five and seven million years for the natural world to recover from the destruction that has taken place.
The UN convention on biological diversity has never seen governments meet their targets. The Aichi biodiversity targets agreed at Cop10 in Japan in 2010 were not fully achieved. In the decade before that, it was the same thing.
Despite its flaws, the Paris climate agreement restored some faith in UN processes to protect the environment. Cop15 could be nature's "Paris Moment".
There are proposals to eliminate plastic pollution, reduce pesticide use by two-thirds, and do away with billions of pounds of harmful environmental government subsidies in the draft targets to be negotiated in Montreal. Reducing the current rate of extinctions by 90 percent is one of the goals.
Money, 30x30, the monitoring of targets, and a row over digital sequence information are some of the issues that divide the global north and south.
Concerns remain that the rights of Indigenous peoples will not be protected despite the fact that a target has been set to protect 30% of land and sea by the end of the decade.
Many developing countries say they need more money if they are to expand protected areas and grow their economies in a less destructive way than their rich counterparts, despite the fact that many world leaders have made much of the importance of Cop15.
The Africa group warned that it will not sign off on anything unless there is an agreement on digital sequence information in the final framework.
It will be ambitious enough to halt the decline of nature, but modest enough to make targets happen. It will depend on the will of the heads of state, but there are a lot of quick wins that can be achieved. The UN wants humans to live in harmony with nature by the year 2050.
The explainer was first published in August of 2022. Click on the time stamp to see when it was modified. Guardian editorial policy states that any significant changes to this or previous versions of the article will be footnotes.
You can find more age of extinction coverage here and follow reporters on social media.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
