UN biodiversity talks resume with dispute over funding topping the agenda
The call for humanity to unite to “sustain life on the planet” and end the previous meeting’s tumultuous past has rekindled global discussions to protect biodiversity.
Countries are still tussling over the amount of money needed to stop the destruction that scientists claim threatens a million species, more than two years after a landmark agreement on biodiversity, including a pledge to protect 30% of the world’s land and seas by 2030.
Negotiators at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome are tasked with bringing an end to the bloc between wealthy and developing nations regarding the creation of a specific fund to support nature conservation.
Due to disagreement over the issue, previous UN COP16 discussions in Cali, Colombia, in November lasted for extended periods of time before coming to an agreement.
Many developing nations urged the meeting to unblock funds and called on wealthy nations to fulfill their commitment to providing $20 billion to poorer nations by 2025, as they urged the meeting to do so at the opening of the talks in Rome on Tuesday.
“Without this, trust might be broken”, Panama’s representative said, urging the international community to ensure that overall financing beyond 2030 reflects the “urgency of the biodiversity crisis”.
“This is a matter of survival for ecosystems, economy and humanity. We cannot repeat the failures of climate finance, COP16.2 must deliver more than words, it must deliver funding. The world is out of time”.
According to a report released in October by the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London, global wildlife populations have decreased by 73 percent on average over the past 50 years.
The discussions come as nations face a range of difficulties, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and trade tensions.
The United States Agency for International Development has initiated a plan to stop development funding despite Washington’s commitment to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Susana Muhamad, president of COP16, urged nations to work together “for something that probably is humanity’s most crucial goal in the 21st century, which is our collective capacity to sustain life on this planet.”
Muhamad, who has resigned as Colombia’s environment minister but will continue to serve until after the COP16 conference, has said she was “hopeful” of a resolution in Rome.
Far from the record 23, 000 participants at the Cali conference, the talks resumed in a smaller format, with 1, 400 people accredited and just a few 100 country representatives at the opening plenary in a hall overlooking the rain-drenched ruins of Rome’s Circus Maximus.
Countries immediately began negotiations that will continue until Tuesday evening behind closed doors.
They have until Thursday to hammer out a plan over a promised $200bn a year in finance for biodiversity , by 2030, including $30bn a year from wealthier countries to poorer ones.
The total for 2022 was about $15bn, according to the OECD.
The main topic of discussion is primarily the delivery of funding.
The African group and Brazil are the two leading countries in developing countries calling for the creation of a new, dedicated biodiversity fund because they lack adequate representation in the current frameworks.
Setting up multiple funds, according to wealthy countries like the European Union, Japan, and Canada, would fragment aid.
The COP16 presidency released a new text on Friday that suggested reforming existing funding and putting the final decision on a new fund for upcoming UN discussions.
The Common Initiative, a think tank with a focus on global economic and environmental policy, has a pessimistic outlook on raising a lot more money, according to Oscar Soria, who claimed that important sources of biodiversity finance are fading or disappearing.
According to Soria, “We are completely off track in terms of getting that money.”
What was meant to be a good Colombian telenovela, with the right resources and a happy ending, could turn out to be an Italian opera with no one actually agreeing and everyone losing.
New fund launched
A new fund was established in Cali to distribute profits from the communities where the animals and plants are digitally seleted, one accomplishment being.
The fund, which was set up on Tuesday, was created to allow large corporations to use this data, which can add up to billions of dollars, to generate a portion of the profit or revenue from developing products like cosmetics and cosmetics.
According to Ximena Barrera of WWF Colombia, the fund would provide “direct benefits for those who have safeguarded ecosystems for centuries” and would mark a significant milestone for corporate contributions to nature.
The first of a string of disappointing outcomes for the planet at UN summits last year was when Cali failed to reach an agreement.
Source: Aljazeera
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