Crucial Talks on Preserving Nature Are on Now. Here Are the Key Issues.

MONTREAL, Quebec – Remember the big climate talks in Egypt last month? There’s another hugely important environmental summit going on in Canada. It also talks about a global crisis that threatens life on earth, but one that has received less attention: the pervasive human-caused loss of biodiversity. That means not only the extinction of species, but also a staggering decline in the diversity of life on the planet.

Don’t stop reading out of fear! The biodiversity talks in Montreal could create the most important global agreement to protect and restore nature in history.

Imagine that.

They could also end up with something much less ambitious.

They may even crash.

Keep reading, though, because what happens over the next few days at a convention center in Montreal poses a high risk to life on earth. (To better understand that, check out this visual article on habitat loss.)

What is the goal of the negotiations?

The conference is called COP15, because it is the 15th conference of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Ultimately, its goal is a new 10-year agreement that will enable the world to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. There is no silver bullet for that, so negotiators are fiercely debating the details of about 20 goals that will work together to resolve the issue.

More sustainable land and ocean management. Restoration of degraded areas. Create new protected areas while recognizing indigenous rights. Help depleted species recover. Ensure the harvesting and trade of wild species is sustainable, safe and legal.

Those are just the first five. Reducing pollution, mitigating the effects of climate change and addressing subsidies that harm biodiversity, such as funding harmful agricultural practices, are also included. And that’s still not half. Nobody said it was easy.

The clock is ticking, because countries are supposed to meet these goals by 2030. For that to happen, there also needs to be a plan to track progress along the way. Such monitoring was missing from the agreement reached at the last COP on biodiversity, widely seen as a big part of why. that deal failed any of its goals at the global level.

The text is filled with parentheses, distinguishing terms or phrases that the parties have not yet agreed to. Lots of brackets. If you want to dive deep, Carbon Brief followed them. With just a few days to go (negotiations are scheduled to close on Monday), a big question is whether they can get rid of those brackets fast enough.

The strongest effort has been that of pledging countries to protect 30% of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030. Some have stated that the conference will increase or decrease this goal; others say it is using too much oxygen. Either way, the percentage is still in brackets.

Delegates from the governments of almost every country in the world are present here (at least 190 of them). There are also representatives from indigenous communities, nonprofit groups, and businesses. And journalists! In total, about 17,000 people came to Montreal to attend the event.

That’s less than half of the people who went to Egypt for the climate summit last month. And while presidents and prime ministers often attend climate talks, the most senior officials here are often the environment ministers.

Advocates had hoped to change that this year, spurring heads of government to attend and bring their political capital. But they were not successful.

The pandemic has complicated and delayed the negotiations. China currently holds the COP15 presidency, and its Covid policies have made it difficult to bring together delegates from around the world in person. That is why the negotiations ended in Montreal; Canada is hosting the event, and the two countries together try to convince the parties to come to an agreement.

The United States plays an odd role. Republicans have refused to ratify the Convention on Biological Diversity, the global treaty that powers the meeting, so the United States is one of only two countries not participating in the negotiations. (The other is the Holy See.) However, Monica Medina, the assistant secretary of state who was also recently appointed special envoy for biodiversity and water resources, is here with a team, working outside margin.

In spite of everything, Ukraine’s environment minister, Ruslan Strilets, did too. In a dramatic moment on Thursday, he spoke of the terrible damage Russia’s invasion has done to his country’s nature.

What are the biggest sticking points?

Money is the main issue, although it is discussed in an attempt to be more polite: “resource mobilization”.

Europeans are the biggest financial players here; The European Union has committed 7 billion euros in funding for international biodiversity until 2027. The bloc is also pushing for ambitious targets. But the countries of the southern hemisphere are the richest in actual biodiversity, and they want to make sure they have the funds needed to deliver on any promises. Research suggests that hundreds of billions of dollars more may be needed each year.

There is a global fund, but developing countries have criticized it as difficult to access. They are calling for a new pot of money.

Earlier this week, countries in the global south walked out of meetings in protest. They say rich nations are demanding conservation of natural resources after reaping the advantages of becoming rich by exploiting them. The European Union opposes a new fund, saying it would cause a delay of years.

On Thursday, the United States noted that, this year, it has doubled its commitment to the current fund (called the Global Environment Fund and helping developing countries deal with climate change, biodiversity loss and other environmental issues), promising $600 million for the fund. next four years. “A very large proportion” will go to nature and biodiversity, Ms. Medina said.

Despite the tensions, some attendees with years of COP experience remained calm, even optimistic. Others feel confused.

What is clear is that there is still much work to be done before the negotiations are scheduled to conclude on Monday. Organizers have warned that they will have to work overtime.