The African Development Bank (AfDB) is joining forces with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to create an expert group on financing biodiversity in Africa. The initiative is part of the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) in Africa. This framework sets out an ambitious path for achieving the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050.
Toute l'actu sur la protection de l'environnement
The African Development Bank (AfDB) is joining forces with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to create an expert group on financing biodiversity in Africa. The initiative is part of the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) in Africa. This framework sets out an ambitious path for achieving the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050.
Responding to the triple
crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution is an urgent
imperative. To this end, the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15)
to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held from 7 to
19 December 2022 in Canada, adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity
Framework (KMGBF) to protect nature and halt the loss of biodiversity
worldwide.
To turn words into action,
the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) are setting up an expert group on biodiversity financing,
which will provide African countries with knowledge and technical assistance to
mobilise more funding for biodiversity. It will also provide a platform for
decision-makers and development partners in Africa to establish links, share
knowledge, approaches, opportunities and solutions to mobilise biodiversity
finance for nature-friendly development pathways in Africa.
Filling an annual gap of
700 billion dollars
The African Biodiversity
Finance Expert Group was announced following the sub-regional workshop of Phase
III of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements Programme in Africa, the
Caribbean and the Pacific, organised by the United Nations Economic Commission
for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa, from 25 to 28 July 2023.
"The AfDB recognises
the importance of biodiversity financing to complement development aid and
climate financing for African countries. The scale and scope of the impacts of
biodiversity loss in Africa require innovative financing mechanisms and
partnerships capable of rapidly mobilising resources from public, private and
multilateral institutions on a large scale," explains Vanessa Ushie, Acting
Director of the AfDB's African Natural Resource Management and Investment
Centre.
In its deployment, the
expert group on financing African biodiversity will focus on achieving Goal D
of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to ensure
adequate financial resources, capacity building, technical and scientific
cooperation, as well as access to and transfer of technologies, in order to
fully implement the framework. Goal D also aims to close the $700 billion
annual gap in biodiversity funding and to harmonise the financial flows of the
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the 2050 Biodiversity
Vision.
Fanta Mabo
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
COP15: agreement provides $30bn per year for biodiversity
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.
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.
At the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15), which takes place from 7 to 19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada, one of the key issues for developing countries will be to secure funding from rich countries to safeguard their natural heritage. As one of the 17 countries with the richest biodiversity, South Africa is keen to ensure that the agreement to be adopted at COP15 is not just on paper.
During the discussions at the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15), which is being held in Canada until 19 December 2022, South Africa will focus on a real commitment by nations to halt the loss of biodiversity. For developing countries, the challenge is to secure financial resources to implement conservation targets. Aware that statements will be made in this sense in Montreal, South Africa’s Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy, nevertheless calls for the sincerity of the promises.
« What we don’t want to see is a situation where we get an agreement on paper but with no real possibility of implementation. This means that we believe that a global fund for biodiversity should be established, » says the minister, who attended COP15.
With biodiversity providing more than 400,000 jobs and generating an annual income of around €1.6 billion, South Africa ranks among the 17 countries with the richest natural heritage. The country therefore has a vested interest in seeing the negotiations result in international collaboration on ambitious targets to protect ecosystems, but these targets face the problem of funding.
According to the head of advocacy at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), African countries « must be able to obtain some form of guarantee from rich countries that their actions to protect and conserve biodiversity will be rewarded. An economic value that can be stronger than the incentives to destroy biodiversity, » says Pierre Cannet.
At present, 154 billion dollars, or a little over 146 billion euros, are mobilised each year to preserve nature worldwide. This is not enough, according to the United Nations (UN), which believes that this amount should be doubled by 2025 and tripled by 2030 to combat the pressure on natural environments and the disappearance of species.
Fanta Mabo
COP15: South Africa calls for genuine commitments in Montreal
At the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15), which takes place from 7 to 19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada, one of the key issues for developing countries will be to secure funding from rich countries to safeguard their natural heritage. As one of the 17 countries with the richest biodiversity, South Africa is keen to ensure that the agreement to be adopted at COP15 is not just on paper.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council has approved $65 million for the first work programme of its eighth funding cycle. Almost half of this funding is for biodiversity projects, including more than $18 million to support the development of biodiversity financing plans in 26 countries.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council approved $65 million for the first work programme of its eighth funding cycle. The Council report states that more than half of this funding will go to biodiversity projects, including more than $18 million to support the development of biodiversity financing plans in 26 countries, particularly in Africa.
The Biodiversity Finance Plan Development Support Umbrella Programme will enable countries to mobilise large-scale resources to implement the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework by supporting the development of national biodiversity finance plans, including baseline diagnostics, capacity and institutional arrangements. The programme includes support to develop baseline analyses and strengthen institutions in countries that have not yet benefited from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Biodiversity Finance Initiative.
This is the second and final annual meeting of the GEF Council. It was held on the eve of the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15), which takes place from 6 to 17 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. Delegates from different countries must agree on the adoption of a text, which some hope will be as ambitious as the Paris Climate Agreement. The aim is to protect at least 30% of the land and oceans by 2030, to reduce plastic and agricultural pollution and to ensure that the adopted objectives are properly implemented.
According to data from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), about 1 million species are threatened with extinction in Africa, and many more will be in the coming decades. Unless action is taken to reduce the intensity of the drivers of biodiversity loss.
Fanta Mabo
COP15: GEF’s 8th funding cycle includes over $33 million for biodiversity
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council has approved $65 million for the first work programme of its eighth funding cycle. Almost half of this funding is for biodiversity projects, including more than $18 million to support the development of biodiversity financing plans in 26 countries.
A study provides new evidence for maintaining the planet’s ecological integrity. Published on 3 June 2022 by a team of scientists from different backgrounds, the new study indicates that at least 44% of the planet’s land area should be conserved to save biodiversity.
The study comes across as a conservation plan for the planet. The findings, published in the journal Science on 3 June 2022, reveal that 44% of the world’s land area, or some 64 million square kilometres, requires conservation action to halt the decline in biodiversity. « We need to act quickly, our models show that more than 1.3 million square kilometres of this land (an area larger than South Africa) is likely to have its habitat cleared for human activities by 2030, which would be devastating for wildlife, » explains Dr James R. Allan of the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and leader of the research team.
To arrive at these estimates, the research team used geospatial algorithms to map optimal conservation areas for species and terrestrial ecosystems around the world. In addition, they used spatially explicit land-use scenarios to quantify how much of this land will be threatened by human activities by 2030.
In addition to the UN’s Aichi Target 11 to protect 17% of the planet by 2020, the study’s estimates are half those envisaged under the 30×30 target. A proposed global agreement for biodiversity, aiming to convert 30% of the planet into protected areas by 2030.
Sustainable land use
Billed by its authors as one of the most comprehensive studies on conservation, the new study could help decision-makers set effective conservation targets at the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15 Biodiversity), which is scheduled to take place in late August/early September 2022 in Kunming, China.
However, the authors emphasised that not all the lands identified should necessarily be designated as protected areas, but rather managed through a wide range of species and ecosystem conservation strategies, including other effective area-based conservation measures. They also advocate effective sustainable land use policies.
Fanta Mabo
AFRICA: Conserving 44% of land to save biodiversity
A study provides new evidence for maintaining the planet’s ecological integrity. Published on 3 June 2022 by a team of scientists from different backgrounds, the new study indicates that at least 44% of the planet’s land area should be conserved to save biodiversity.