COP15
Robot plant grows, wilts on fate of UN nature talks
It's not always easy to make sense of the complex environmental diplomacy taking place at a UN summit billed as humanity's last hope to save nature.
That's why a scientist and artist have teamed up to build a large, data-driven robotic plant that withers or flourishes depending on countries' policy commitments: a tangible demonstration of how human actions will impact the world's threatened species.
Called "ECONARIO," the 5.5-meter (18-foot) tall artwork took a year to build from recycled steel and is currently on display in Montreal Convention Centre, keeping policymakers at the COP15 meeting on their toes as they attempt to hammer out a deal to protect ecosystems.
Its creator, Dutch artist Thijs Biersteker, told AFP the idea behind it is simple: "If the research does not reach us, then how can the research teach us?"
"Art reflects the time we're in, and it should reflect these important issues."
The plant feeds on data from the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII)—an estimated percentage of the original number of species that remain, and their abundance in any given area, despite human impacts.
Data scientist Adriana De Palma of London's Natural History Museum, who serves as research lead for the BII, told AFP it is based on a robust, peer-reviewed and open access methodology.
As negotiations happen, the team behind BII input, for example, how many countries have committed to implement a cornerstone pledge of protecting 30 percent of lands and oceans by 2030.
"We can then predict what that is going to mean for biodiversity in 20, 50 or 100 years," she said.
Rooting for success
New funding pledges by wealthy countries to assist lower income nations in protecting their biodiversity have helped to nudge up slightly the predicted global average of BII to 70.7 percent by 2050—meaning the average ecosystem will have that percentage of its natural ecological community left.
The current figure is 68.5 percent, set to drop to 66.4 percent if "business as usual" continues but rise to 76.4 percent in case of "real action" which the UN summit was meant to deliver.
For now, ECONARIO is cycling between the pessimistic and optimistic scenarios in order to show what could be possible—but if policymakers fail to achieve an ambitious target, that will be reflected in a very sorry looking robotic plant.
"We shouldn't shy away from the hard numbers, it's not time to sugarcoat anymore," said Biersteker.
De Palma added they were in talks with North American museums to loan the artwork out after the UN summit concludes, and it will eventually return to Europe.
"Using a piece of art like this to really connect with people so they see the damage that individual choices, company choices and government choices are having on the world, is incredibly valuable," she said.
© 2022 AFP
by Benjamin LEGENDRE
Creating a new global fund for biodiversity—a core demand of developing countries at UN talks in Montreal—"would take years" and be less effective than reforming existing financial mechanisms, Canada's environment minister said Tuesday.
Ottawa's position reflects the consensus among developed nations on the thorny issue, which has emerged as a key sticking point in negotiations to hammer out a new global pact for nature at the meeting, known as COP15.
Delegates from around the world have gathered for the December 7-19 summit aiming to secure a new deal: a 10-year framework aimed at saving Earth's forests, oceans and species before it's too late.
Draft targets include a cornerstone pledge to protect 30 percent of the world's land and seas by 2030, eliminating harmful fishing and agriculture subsidies and tackling invasive species and reducing pesticides.
Dozens of countries, led by Brazil, India, Indonesia and African nations, are demanding financial subsidies of at least $100 billion a year until 2030, or one percent of global GDP, to protect ecosystems. The current figure is around $10 billion annually.
"The countries of the North understand that ambition must be accompanied by financial resources," Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault said at a press conference held halfway through the talks.
But "my concern is that the creation of new funding could take years, and during those years, countries in the South wouldn't be receiving any money from that fund," he added.
He recalled the Global Environment Facility, currently the main multilateral mechanism for biodiversity, took seven years to create. Donors have pledged $5.3 billion to this fund for its current cycle, 2022-2026.
"So I think it would be better to use existing funds" while pursuing reforms that would make money more accessible, he said.
"On the other hand, we have to agree on the fact that it cannot only be public money," said Guilbeault, stressing that private and philanthropic contributions must come into play, as well as multilateral lenders such as the World Bank and IMF.
"We all need to push harder this week," he concluded, after the first week of talks ended in stalemate.
Yawning funding gap
The divide between developed and developing nations on the issue of creating a new biodiversity fund mirrors a similar debate during recent UN climate talks in Egypt on creating a "loss and damages" fund for the most climate-vulnerable nations—though that demand was eventually met.
Given this precedent, Basile van Havre, co-chair of one of COP15's working groups, did not rule out a similar decision for biodiversity.
"The landscape or the context now is a lot more favorable," he told AFP, acknowledging growing political momentum for such a move.
Whatever the final mechanism, the gap in expectations over resource mobilization that would allow lower income nations to hold up their side of the biodiversity deal remains a sore spot.
"The EU says it hears the needs of the Global South and the Africa Group, and recognizes that current finances are not enough. So what is the hold up?" said Greenpeace policy advisory Anna Ogniewska.
© 2022 AFP
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