french president, Emmanuel Macroncalled on countries to “go big” in the negotiations at COP15 as talks to secure the next decade of goals to halt the destruction of nature reach the final stages.
“The most vulnerable countries harbor treasures of biodiversity. We need to increase our funding to support them, with no cost spared! France will double its funding to 1 billion euros per year. COP 15 Stakeholders: Get on the Board and Join the Fight! he tweeted.
the Cop15 President Huang Runqiu said he would publish a text of the final agreement, known as the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, on Sunday at 8 a.m. Montreal time (1 p.m. UK time). , after listening to country statements. Another meeting with heads of delegation will then take place later today, reportedly after the World Cup final between France and Argentina.
“I feel quite exhausted because this meeting is going on and on like a marathon, but we will see the finish line soon,” Runqiu said, adding that every minister had the opportunity to discuss policies and everyone had made an effort. . , and supported China. “I hope everyone will come to a consensus that everyone can accept,” he said.
Canada’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said he was on the ground asking countries for “collaboration, compromise and consensus”. He said he was confident that an ambitious framework would be agreed. “We have the power to change the course of history for the better,” he said. “Let’s give nature the Parisian moment it deserves.
The creation of a new fund for the Earth’s biodiversity emerged on Saturday as the main dividing line between the countries.
Echoing the division over the creation of a fund for loss and damage at COP27 in Egypt last month, a group of developing countries are calling for the creation of a new funding mechanism for the conservation of key ecosystems .
Northern countries, including the UK, EU member states and Cop15 co-host Canada, are calling for ambitious conservation targets in the final text, including large-scale restoration of the nature, protecting 30% of land and seas and tackling drivers of wildlife loss such as pesticide use and harmful subsidies.
But several countries in the South, including Indonesia, Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo, argue that new conservation goals must be backed by more funding, which they say must be accompanied by the creation of a new biodiversity fund separate from the main funding mechanism, the Global Environment Facility (GEF). the the group left the talks Wednesday on the issue.
On Saturday, several government ministers said a decision had to be made on the creation of the new biodiversity fund at Cop15, which is due to conclude on Monday.
Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European Commissioner for the Environment, had excluded the creation of a new fund for biodiversity As part of the final deal earlier in the week, but on Friday he said he was open to proposals but the donor base should expand to include countries that have become wealthy in the last 30 years.
“We are by far the largest funder of biodiversity. Others making billions from the crisis in Europe, if they could at least match the amounts member states have invested in them, could mean a major breakthrough,” he said. It would be nice if they [China and Brazil] would play some sort of role. We must also be clear about the Arab countries. Some of them have really, really reached completely different economic levels since the agreements were written.
China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Indonesia are the top five historical GEF recipients and will be in the top five for the next funding round of $5.3bn (£4.3bn) from 2022 to 2026. Many biodiversity-rich countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America argue that they should get more money to pay for conservation.
France had been accused of being a blocker of the new fund by some developing countries, but Ecological Transition Minister Christophe Béchu told the Guardian on Saturday it was “fake news”.
“France’s position since January 2021 has been to say that biodiversity needs money and we were the first country in the world to double our commitments for biodiversity. Currently, the question is not on principle [of creating a new fund] but about a mechanism. And we are not blocking any process,” he said.
Li Shuo, a political adviser to Greenpeace China who followed the talks in Montreal, said: “The package won’t be revealed until tomorrow, but so far the presidency has gone through a process that put everyone on edge. easy. They must now come up with a package that pushes ambition upwards for funding and conservation goals.
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