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AT
COP15, almost the entirety of the world’s nations* signed off on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, establishing four “goals” and 25 “targets”
for signatories to adopt and meet by 2030. Of course, the framework’s agreement
is non-binding and mostly aspirational, like most climate deals have been since
the first Earth Summit but those who fail to achieve this year's targets will be
sent to the naughty corner with a severe knuckle rapping! Nevertheless, there have been a variety of international
agreements on climate change and biological sustainability made during the last
several decades, some of significant importance,including the well-known Montreal Protocol for
protecting the earth’s ozone layer (1987), the above-mentioned 1992 Earth
Summit, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2003), the Aichi Biodiversity Targets
(2010), and the Paris Climate Accords (2016) to name a few. Not
surprisingly (and unfortunately), most fell, and continue to fall, well short
of their stated goals and implementation targets.
ADOPTING COLLECTIVE ACTION on
a global scale to combat and mitigate climate change and protecting the
biosphere is a bit like herding cats—reaching the goal line seems next to
impossible.1 Or, perhaps we're more like a pack of greyhounds
chasing that mechanical bunny around the track, never quite catching up to it no
matter how fast we run. “At
COP15, nations adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)
agreeing to conserve and manage at least 30 percent of the world’s
lands, inland waters, coastal areas, and oceans. With emphasis on areas of
particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services.
Currently only 17 percent and 10 percent of the world’s terrestrial and marine
areas respectively are under protection.” (Zurich)2
And
the GBF warns, in summary:
“Without…action,
there will be a further acceleration in the global rate of species extinction,
which is already at least tens to hundreds of times higher than it has averaged
over the past 10 million years.” (pdf. Draft GBF-2022.)
 |
| "CHARGE! There's TAR in them thAR hills!" |
 |
| Mr. and Mrs. Fucktard in their trophy room. |
SO, WE’VE
HAD TWO COPS in one year and already we’re looking ahead to next year's twenty-eighth
Congress of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28). So, it's Onward Ho! Don't look back. Heck, why look behind you and be reminded of all the failures piling up? Next year's climate change conference will cheekily be held in the
oil-drenched petro-state of Dubai. Huh?!? How'd that happen? That’s like holding an AA
meeting in a distillery! (Just sayin’.) Better book your plane tickets now and don't forget to buy those mea culpa carbon-offsets and worry beads. The venue for COP16-CBD, which focuses on biodiversity
and ecological stewardship is TBA. [They're normally held every two years. Ed.]
WELL, that’s it for now. I’m going to go jump in a snowbank, if I can find one!
Cheers,
Jake
____________________________
[Note:
The summit was held in Montreal when the city of Kunming had to cancel due to
Covid-19 lockdowns. China remained chair of the meeting. Ed.]
“BIODIVERSITY,
an abbreviation of biological diversity, is the variety of life on
Earth, from the tiniest bacteria to the largest mammals. The air we breathe,
the water we drink and the food we eat all rely on it; without plants there
would be no oxygen and without bees to pollinate there would be no fruit or
nuts.” (The Guardian)
AND VINCENT
LANDON has a crisp overview: “Biodiversity is vital to life on our planet. It
is essentially the life support system for humanity. From our oceans to our
forests, nature underpins the world’s food system; provides fresh water;
sustains the quality of the air and soils; regulates the climate; provides
pollination and pest control; absorbs carbon emissions and reduces the impact
of natural hazards. But harm too many of these ecosystems and we risk
endangering their ability to provide basic life support services.” (Zurich)
* TWO
COUNTRIES THAT HAVE NOT SIGNED OFF on the COP15
final agreement are the Vatican and the United States. The Americans maintain an
“observer status” at biodiversity summits, refusing to sign any deal “because
of concerns about interference with the private sector, the breaching of
intellectual property rights, the creation of more environmental regulation and
the redistribution of US wealth overseas.” (The Guardian.) [And I have no idea why the Catholic church wouldn't sign the thing! Ed.]
1. “ACHIEVING
the targets could be a stretch if previous global efforts to tackle
biodiversity loss are anything to go by. In 2002, the Parties to the Convention
committed themselves ‘to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current
rate of biodiversity loss.’ This failed to materialize. At COP10 in Nagoya,
Japan, in 2010, governments agreed on ambitious global goals called the 20
Aichi Biodiversity Targets. None of these targets was fully met by the 2020
deadline and biodiversity has further declined over the past decade.” (Zurich)
2. AND,
AS I MENTIONED IN AN EARLIER POST, the devil is in the details. Partitioning off
30% of the planet sounds good on paper, but without careful consideration around
what activities are to be pursued on the reserves, and who will
be allowed to live/work there, critics suggest the
natural resources and biological processes found there will instead be open to exploitation,
commodification and financialization rather than sustainable and
ecologically-sound land/water/air conservation practices.
3. BILL
GATES is the largest private landowner in the United States with 269,000 acres
in his real-estate portfolio. I’m sure he has good reasons for owning so much
land. (He must.) “Farmer Billy!” Kinda rolls right off the
tongue, don’t it?
CBD-RELATED
WEBSITES USED FOR THIS POST:
https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop15-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-biodiversity-conference-in-montreal/
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