The representatives of 150 countries met for the first time in the face of the final negotiation, before the final negotiation planned in China at the end of August. If the goal of preserving 30% of the land and seas raises a relative consensus, major topics such as funding remain open.
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It should have been the last step before the United Nations World Conference (COP15) on biodiversity. But the discussions ending on Tuesday, March 29 in Geneva (Switzerland) have finally advanced at a much slower pace than expected, aroused frustrations and concerns about the process. At the end of their work, the some 2,000 delegates gathered for fifteen days have failed to agree on a draft text that could be negotiated and adopted by the Heads of State and government to put an end to the destruction of the lifetime.
In Geneva, representatives from more than 150 countries found themselves for the first time after two years of distance discussions. Postponed three times due to the COVID pandemic, COP15 opened protocolized in October 2021 in Kunming, China, and the actual negotiations are now expected at the end of August – the official dates still having not been announced by Beijing. “We had clearly underestimated the delegates to express themselves, recognizes Basil van Havre, the co-chair of the Working Group on the Writing of the Future Global Framework. This has slowed down the process and we did not go as far as We hoped. “
75% of the earth’s surface has already been altered by the man
The COP15 must make it possible to adopt a new roadmap aimed at putting an end to the erosion of biodiversity by 2030. The stakes are crucial: species disappear at an unprecedented pace, more than more than One million is threatened with extinction and 75% of the land surface has already been altered by man. Experts and observers hope that this appointment will raise awareness and a start similar to those caused by the Paris Agreement on the climate concluded in 2015.
In Geneva, the discussions have not reflected this sense of urgency, sometimes giving the impression of starting from scratch. The Global Framework Project presented in July, resulting from online work sessions and articulated around four major objectives for 2050 and 21 targets for 2030, served as a basis for trade. But instead of reaching consensus on these milestones, the delegates handed over the table many proposals. “The co-chairs had submitted a global framework drafted in a simple and effective language and expected it to be further strengthened and improved,” says Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the Executive Secretary of the Convention for the Biological Diversity of Nations United. Instead, many elements have been added and each sentence is now ten or twelve lines with lots of things in parentheses! “
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