At least $30 billion will be given to developing countries over the current decade to halt the decline in biodiversity. This was one of the major outcomes of the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15), which ended on 19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada.
Toute l'actu sur la protection de l'environnement
At least $30 billion will be given to developing countries over the current decade to halt the decline in biodiversity. This was one of the major outcomes of the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15), which ended on 19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada.
Paris won for the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15). After four years of negotiations, ten days and one night of diplomatic marathon, the 195 countries plus the European Union (EU) reached an agreement under the aegis of China, president of COP15. This peace pact with nature, known as the « Kunming-Montreal agreement » (Kunming being the Chinese city where COP15 was initially to be held), aims in particular to protect 30% of the planet by 2030 and to release 30 billion dollars of annual conservation funding for developing countries.
This is the most important of the twenty measures contained in the agreement. It is also presented as the biodiversity equivalent of the Paris target to limit global warming to 1.5°C. The 30-30 target will be financed in stages, with a first stage of 20 billion by 2025, compared with just under 10 billion in 2022. However, this tripling of funding for biodiversity falls short of the 100 billion demanded by countries in the South, where biodiversity loss is accelerating due to human activity. « Most people say it’s better than we expected on both sides, for rich and developing countries. That’s the mark of a good text, » says Lee White, Gabon’s environment minister.
Guarantees for indigenous peoples
In addition to subsidies, developing countries were asking for the creation of a global fund dedicated to biodiversity, a matter of principle, similar to the one obtained in November to help them deal with climate damage. On this point, China is proposing as a compromise to establish a branch dedicated to biodiversity within the current Global Environment Facility (GEF) as early as 2023.
The text also provides guarantees for indigenous peoples, custodians of 80% of the Earth’s remaining biodiversity. It proposes to restore 30% of degraded ecosystems and to halve the risk of pesticides.
There are also shortcomings in the agreement. In particular, there are no figures for the preservation of endangered species, although these were included in the first versions of the text. Similarly, the explicit mention that the objectives were to be achieved « within the limits of the planet’s capacity », which seems to be an element of good sense, was removed during the last negotiations. These flaws in COP15 will certainly be identified and addressed at COP16 on biodiversity, to be held in 2024 in Turkey.
Fanta Mabo
In Benin, stakeholders in the « wood and forestry » and « soy and rice » sectors have just taken part in workshops to encourage voluntary commitment to preserving biodiversity. The initiative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is part of the implementation of the Biodiversity Commitment Project (Biodev2030).
The city of Cotonou in Benin hosted from 8 to 9 December 2022, a workshop to educate stakeholders in the « soy and rice » sector on the benefits of preserving biodiversity in their value chain. The work enabled participants to have a common understanding of the characteristics of their sector, the importance of biological diversity and the pressures that certain professional practices exert on the natural environment, as well as the environmentally responsible practices that can be adopted.
Through consensus, the key actors to be mobilised for this objective were identified, as well as the desirable changes on the part of each actor, and the constraints and opportunities that such changes represent for each.
Reducing the environmental impact of rice and soybean cultivation
The rice-soybean stakeholder incentive workshop took place one day after the workshop for wood and forestry stakeholders. Organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in collaboration with the General Directorate of Water, Forests and Hunting and the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Eco- Benin, this series of two workshops is part of the implementation of the Biodiversity Commitment Project (Biodev2030).
The objective of these workshops is to lead later to the signing of voluntary commitments by actors in the two sectors to preserve biodiversity along their respective value chains. This was the case on 29 November 2022 in Tunisia, with the banking, cement and mineral water sectors.
A recent study carried out within the framework of the Biodev2030 project indicates that the « wood and forestry » and « soy and rice » sectors are the source of multiple environmental impacts and consequently on Benin’s biological diversity. In the absence of actions to reduce the risks to the state of the natural environment (water, soil, biological resources, etc.), this has a negative impact on the well-being of human populations. This is particularly true of the decline in natural soil fertility, which reduces agricultural yields and therefore the income of small farmers.
Boris Ngounou
BENIN: the rice and soy sector, towards a voluntary commitment to biodiversity
In Benin, stakeholders in the « wood and forestry » and « soy and rice » sectors have just taken part in workshops to encourage voluntary commitment to preserving biodiversity. The initiative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is part of the implementation of the Biodiversity Commitment Project (Biodev2030).
With less than a week to go before the end of the negotiations, the participants in the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) are divided on the thorny issue of funding. To protect their biodiversity, developing countries, particularly in Africa, are asking for a subsidy of at least 100 billion dollars per year. But the rich countries prefer a reform of the existing funds.
The 15th UN Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) began last week and has now entered a critical phase. There is only one week left to discuss an outcome document on reversing the global loss of biodiversity: protecting 30% of land and sea, halving pesticides, restoring 20-30% of degraded land, etc.
These objectives can only be achieved if the necessary funding is made available. In this respect, the African countries, Brazil, India and Indonesia are demanding financial subsidies of at least 100 billion dollars per year, or 1% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) until 2030, i.e. about ten times the current amount of aid, and as much as that promised for the fight against global warming. Developing countries want to receive these subsidies through a new global biodiversity fund.
Rich countries favour reforming existing funds
The idea of a new biodiversity fund does not suit rich countries. They prefer a reform of existing financial flows. « The creation of a new fund could take years, » warned Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault on Tuesday, citing the seven years spent setting up the current Global Environment Facility (GEF).
« In the end, there is far too little money on the table, which is one of the main reasons why the conversation is difficult. Moving forward requires much more significant commitments from the European Union (EU) and European governments, » says Anna Ogniewska, an advisor at Greenpeace.
The debate on financing a new global agreement to reverse the loss of biodiversity in the decade 2020-2030 will be decided by the environment ministers of the 193 countries represented at COP15. However, « parties need to show more courage, wisdom and determination to overcome their differences and reach a final agreement at the UN biodiversity conference, » say COP15 President Huang Runqiu, China’s Minister of Ecology and Environment.
Fanta Mabo
COP15: Southern countries demand $100bn per year to protect biodiversity
With less than a week to go before the end of the negotiations, the participants in the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) are divided on the thorny issue of funding. To protect their biodiversity, developing countries, particularly in Africa, are asking for a subsidy of at least 100 billion dollars per year. But the rich countries prefer a reform of the existing funds.
A new report from the National Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (NPBES) finds several threats to the flourishing of Cameroon’s flora and fauna. According to the report, 10% of plant species and 815 animal species are on the verge of extinction due to industrial agriculture and transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructure.
Industrial agriculture and infrastructure are accelerating the decline of biodiversity in Cameroon. In a recent study conducted by the National Science and Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (NPBES), scientists note that activities in these two sectors threaten about 10% of plant species and 815 wildlife species. Similarly, 50% of plant species in mountain and forest ecosystems and 30% in the coastal and marine zone are threatened with extinction.
Hydroelectric power generation facilities, large photovoltaic power plants, high-voltage power lines and transport infrastructures including roads and highways, as well as railroads and airports, are among the infrastructures indexed by the study. These promote the transformation of habitats and natural environments, including deforestation or logging, agricultural clearing and deforestation especially in tropical regions.
The conversion of forest areas into agricultural areas leads in turn to the drying up of rivers, marshes and wetlands, as well as soil pollution. This phenomenon is particularly noticeable in the southern region of Cameroon. From 2002 to 2020, 184,000 hectares of primary rainforest in this region were nibbled away by industrial agriculture (oil palm, rubber and other crops). This represents 64% of the national forest cover loss during the same period.
NPBES is the Cameroonian representation of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an independent intergovernmental body with 139 member governments. Established in 2012, it provides policymakers with objective scientific assessments of the state of knowledge about the planet’s biodiversity, ecosystems and the contributions they make to people, as well as tools and methods to protect and sustainably use these vital natural assets.
The NPBES report comes at a time when the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity is taking place in Montreal, Canada, until December 19, 2022. The conference aims to forge a new global biodiversity framework for the next decade.
Fanta Mabo
CAMEROON: Agriculture and infrastructure threaten 815 wildlife species
A new report from the National Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (NPBES) finds several threats to the flourishing of Cameroon’s flora and fauna. According to the report, 10% of plant species and 815 animal species are on the verge of extinction due to industrial agriculture and transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructure.
In the run-up to the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) to be held from 7 to 19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is updating its Red List of Threatened Species. The list now includes 42,108 species threatened with extinction, including the dugong, a large herbivorous marine mammal found on the coast of East Africa and New Caledonia.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) updated its Red List of Threatened Species on 9 December 2022. This year the organisation is focusing on dugongs. These large herbivorous marine mammals are joining the ranks of endangered species, particularly the populations of East Africa and New Caledonia, a French territory made up of dozens of islands in the Coral Sea in the southern Pacific Ocean. « The dugong is vulnerable throughout its range and the East African populations are now Red Listed as Critically Endangered, » the IUCN said.
According to the organisation, there are only about 250 individuals left in East Africa. The main threats to this mammal are linked to humans. The main threats to the dugong are related to humans, particularly because of « involuntary capture » in fishing gear. « The dugong is also a victim of boat collisions and the disappearance of the seagrass on which it feeds, » explains Evan Trotzuk, who led the assessment of the Red List in East Africa.
An increase of 649 endangered species
Other species have also been added to the Red List. Among them, the Caribbean pilar coral, which has been downlisted from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered. Its populations have declined by more than 80% over most of its range since 1990.
The IUCN also highlights the case of abalone, shellfish harvested for sale as « some of the world’s most expensive seafood », writes the organisation, which classifies 20 of the 54 abalone species as « endangered ». « In South Africa, poaching by criminal networks has devastated Mida abalone populations, » the IUCN says. Its red list now includes 150,388 species, 42,108 of which are threatened with extinction, compared with 41,459 in the last update, which dates from July 2022. That’s 649 new species threatened with extinction in the space of four months.
« With our limitless appetite for uncontrolled and uneven economic growth, humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction, » said António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), at the opening of the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15), which runs until 19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada.
Fanta Mabo
EAST AFRICA: the dugong, driven to extinction by humans
In the run-up to the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) to be held from 7 to 19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is updating its Red List of Threatened Species. The list now includes 42,108 species threatened with extinction, including the dugong, a large herbivorous marine mammal found on the coast of East Africa and New Caledonia.