Countries launch nature coalition at UN COP16 talks, warn of human extinction
Tue, October 29, 2024
Colombian President Gustavo Petro attends the opening of the 16th United Nations Biodiversity Summit in Cali
By Jake Spring
CALI, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombia at the U.N. COP16 biodiversity talks on Tuesday launched a coalition with 20 other countries seeking to make "peace with nature," as leaders warned that the rapid destruction of the environment risks humanity's own extinction.
The summit of nearly 200 countries under way in the mountain-ringed city of Cali is tasked with figuring out how to halt the decline of nature by 2030, as humans drive habitat loss, climate change, pollution and other activities that destroy biodiversity.
The coalition includes countries from four continents including Mexico, Sweden, Uganda and Chile, although none from Asia-Pacific.
The coalition is open to countries that agree to a set of principles aimed at changing humanity's relationship with nature, to live in harmony with the environment.
That includes marshaling money toward conservation and sustainable development, cooperating internationally and mobilizing all of their society toward preserving nature.
At the opening of Tuesday's COP16 meeting with six presidents and more than 100 government ministers, leaders warned that by destroying nature, humanity is killing itself.
"We are beginning the era of human extinction. I do not think I am exaggerating," Colombian President Gustavo Petro said.
Petro said that the world cannot wait for it to be profitable to save nature and that the market will not save humans, adding that the value of life should be placed over money.
"Nature is life. And yet we are waging war against it. A war where there can be no winner," said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "This is what an existential crisis looks like."
Leaders said COP16 could be a turning point for conservation as the summit seeks to implement 23 goals to stop nature loss by 2030 laid out in the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, that includes mobilizing $200 billion annually for conservation and preserving 30% of the Earth.
Countries as of Tuesday were far from reaching an agreement on how to advance the wide-ranging agenda, remaining at an impasse on how to ramp up finance. A handful of nations announced millions of dollars in new commitments to a global fund for biodiversity, but observers said it falls far short of the billions of dollars needed.
"Today we can change," Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa said. "I want to believe we can change and the world is not going to end."
(Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Sandra Maler)
UN chief calls for more pledges, private sector input to save global biodiversity at Colombia summit
STEVEN GRATTAN
Tue, October 29, 2024
FILE - Fog drifts over the woods of the Taunus forest near Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Boats maneuver low water levels amid a drought on the Amazon River, at a port that connects Colombia with Peru, in Leticia, Colombia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Animals in risk of extinction display is exhibited in the green zone, a day ahead of the COP16 United Nations biodiversity conference, in host city Cali, Colombia, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)ASSOCIATED PRESS
An artist spray paints the finishing touches on a mural a day ahead of the COP16 United Nations biodiversity conference, in host city Cali, Colombia, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - A member of the Pakanyo tribe set a fire in protected forest land at Chiang Mai province, Thailand, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - A fisherman casts his net in a lake polluted by oil on the outskirts of Moanda, western Democratic Republic of Congo, Dec. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - A cormorant gets a running start to take off from the calm waters of Northeast Harbor, Maine, at sunrise Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
CALI, Colombia (AP) — United Nation's Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged countries on Tuesday to make new pledges to help save global biodiversity and called for the private sector to come on board.
“Nature is life, and yet we are waging a war against it, a war where there can be no winner,” Guterres said in his opening remarks at the U.N. biodiversity summit, known as COP16, in Cali, Colombia.
“Every day, we lose more species. Every minute, we dump a garbage truck of plastic waste into our oceans, rivers and lakes,” he said. “This is what an existential crisis looks like.”
The two-week summit is a follow-up to the historic 2022 accord in Montreal, which includes 23 measures to save Earth’s plant and animal life.
Guterres' comments came a day after talks gridlocked over how to fund conservation. On Monday, eight governments pledged an additional $163 million to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, which environmental advocates say is far off the billions needed to save global biodiversity.
So far a total of $400 million is in the fund that provides targeted support to countries and communities to conserve and restore plant and animal species and ecosystems.
“We need a lot more committed, from many more nations,” said Kristian Teleki, CEO of the conservation charity Fauna & Flora.
The 2022 agreement signed by 196 countries calls for protecting 30% of land and water by 2030, known as 30 by 30. When the agreement was signed, 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas were protected — and it hasn’t changed significantly.
A report released Monday by the International Union for Conservation of Nature said 38% of the world’s trees are at risk of extinction and that the number of threatened trees is more than double the number of threatened birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro made a 40-minute opening speech where he repeatedly warned a shift away from oil and gas energy is needed to save the world.
“Another way of producing is needed .. in order to safeguard life on this planet and of humanity,” Petro said.
Guterres said no country, rich or poor, is immune from the devastation inflicted by climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation and pollution.
“These environmental crises are intertwined. They know no borders ... they are devastating ecosystems and livelihoods, threatening human health and undermining sustainable development,” he said, blaming outdated economic models for driving the problems.
Guterres said finance promises from countries must be turned into action and support to developing countries accelerated.
"We cannot afford to leave Cali without new pledges ... and without commitments to mobilize other sources of public and private finance to deliver the Framework,” he said. “And we must bring the private sector on board. Those profiting from nature cannot treat it like a free, infinite resource.”
The U.N. leader highlighted the importance of Indigenous people, people of African descent and local communities as the “guardians of nature”.
“Their traditional knowledge is a living library of biodiversity conservation," he said. "They must be protected. And they must be part of every biodiversity conversation.”
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COP16 Biodiversity Summit: Urgent calls for action as global leaders gather in Cali
Cyril Fourneris
Tue, October 29, 2024
COP16 Biodiversity Summit: Urgent calls for action as global leaders gather in Cali
The United Nations COP16 biodiversity summit is entering its final week in the Colombian city of Cali, where international negotiations are underway to clarify the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted by nearly 200 countries at the end of 2022.
The conference is pivotal in shaping global biodiversity policies, focusing on the urgent need for action against environmental degradation.
The GBF includes 23 targets, including the famous ‘30 by 30’ target in which more than 100 countries committed to protecting 30% of the planet’s lands and oceans by 2030.
The UNEP report found countries have made some headway on pledges, but that expansion of the global network must accelerate over the next six years to meet the goal.
The report says 17.6% of land and inland waters and 8.4% of the ocean and coastal areas globally are within documented protected and conserved areas.
“The increase in coverage since 2020, equivalent to more than twice the size of Colombia, is to be celebrated,” UNEP said in a news release. “But it is a rise of less than 0.5 percentage points in both realms.”
Progress remains slow
The summit in Cali is being attended by representatives of indigenous communities from all over America, who are calling on countries to honour these commitments they made two years ago.
“Our governments are not making quick decisions; they are slow to implement changes. They are focused on enforcing laws and standardising policies but are not taking action to reverse harmful activities or work toward restoring and conserving biodiversity,” says Teddy Sinacay Tomas, President of CECONSEC, an organisation which defends the territorial and civil rights of indigenous communities in the region.
Sandra Valenzuela, CEO of WWF Colombia, also highlighted the need for accelerated action. "So far, we have 17% globally in terrestrial areas and only 8% in marine and coastal regions," she said.
Valenzuela also stressed that national action plans must not only enhance protection but also promote restoration efforts to achieve these targets effectively.
Meanwhile, the European Union has positioned itself as a leader in the fight for biodiversity.
“We had Natura 2000 which is a vast network of connected protected sites. Because of that and the nature restoration law, we are quite confident that the 2030 goal for the land, we will relatively soon reach,” says Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director-General of the Environment Department at the European Commission.
Fink-Hooijer did, however, acknowledge the complexities surrounding water protection and the need for a comprehensive water resilience strategy.
In addition to environmental policies, major financial discussions are underway.
According to the United Nations, there is an urgent need to triple green investments to meet the ambitious targets set for 2030.
Slight progress in global biodiversity protection efforts but some species decline, new reports find
STEVEN GRATTAN
Mon, October 28, 2024
FILE - McCain Maximo runs back into the trees filled with bridled tern nests on the northern end of the sand bar on Helen Island, Palau, on July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Yannick Peterhans, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Deforestation is visible near areas of several wood pellet production companies in Pohuwato, Gorontalo province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Yegar Sahaduta Mangiri)ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - People tour the green zone of COP16, the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, in Cali, Colombia, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - Police stand guard in front a hotel at COP16, the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, in Cali, Colombia, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - Signs of drought are visible on the Amazon River, near Santa Sofia, Colombia, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - A snorkeler watches fish near a shipwreck off Cubagua Island, Venezuela, Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - Antelope run as they migrate through national parks and surrounding areas in South Sudan, June 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
CALI, Colombia (AP) — Global efforts to protect the world's plants and animals have made slight progress and some species remain in serious decline, according to two reports released Monday at a major United Nations biodiversity summit in Colombia.
A report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) evaluated global progress since its biodiversity report in 2020. Two years ago, 196 countries signed a historic treaty to protect biodiversity on 30% of the planet by 2030.
The biodiversity summit underway in Cali, Colombia is a follow-up to the 2022 accord in Montreal, which includes 23 measures to halt and reverse nature loss. One calls for putting 30% of the planet and 30% of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030.
The UNEP report found countries have made some headway on pledges, but that expansion of the global network must accelerate over the next six years to meet the goal. The report says 17.6% of land and inland waters and 8.4% of the ocean and coastal areas globally are within documented protected and conserved areas.
“The increase in coverage since 2020, equivalent to more than twice the size of Colombia, is to be celebrated,” UNEP said in a news release. “But it is a rise of less than 0.5 percentage points in both realms.”
An area of land roughly the size of Brazil and Australia combined and sea area larger than the Indian Ocean need to be protected and conserved by 2030 to meet the global target, said UNEP.
“It is ... equally important that these areas are effective and that they do not negatively impact the people who live in and around them, who are often their most valuable custodians," said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen. “Today’s landmark report shows some progress has been made in the past four years, but we are not moving nearly far or fast enough."
The UNEP's report uses the latest official data reported by governments and other initiative stakeholders.
“The ‘30 by 30’ is an ambitious target, but one that is still within reach if the international community works together across borders, demographics and sectors,” said Grethel Aguilar, director general at The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The IUCN reported Monday that 38% of the world’s trees are at risk of extinction.
The Swiss-headquartered organization says its Red List of Threatened Species now includes 166,061 species — 46,337 of them threatened with extinction.
Trees now account for over one quarter of species on its endangered list, and the number of threatened trees is more than double the number of threatened birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined, IUCN said.
Tree species are at risk of extinction in 192 countries around the world, the organization said. The highest proportion of threatened trees is found on islands since they are particularly at high risk due to deforestation for urban development and agriculture, as well as invasive species, pests and diseases.
“This comprehensive assessment presents the first global picture of the conservation status of trees, which enables us to make better informed conservation decisions and take action to protect trees where it is urgently needed,” said Malin Rivers, Global Tree Assessment lead at Botanic Gardens Conservation International.
Global loss of trees is a major threat to thousands of other plants, fungi and animals, according to IUCN.
The report also noted the conservation status of the Western European hedgehog has deteriorated and it's now listed as “near threatened,” with numbers reduced by an estimated 16 to 33% over the past 10 years.
The worst declines have been documented at up to 50% in Bavaria, Germany, and Flanders, Belgium. The decline is driven by “increasing human pressures, particularly the degradation of rural habitats by agricultural intensification, roads and urban development,” the report said.
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