Despite the reluctance of some nations, the COP15 climate meeting achieved a crucial goal for the protection of global wildlife.
“Historic” deal has been brokered at the COP15, a climate summit in Montreal that followed the COP27 conference in Sharm-el-Sheikh. The meeting, co-hosted by Canada and China, focused on global biodiversity and protection of wildlife.
The deal, signed by almost every country in the conference, aims at including 30% of global land and sea in protected areas by 2030. So far, only 17% of the world’s land and 10% of sea are included in national parks and other protected environment.
This agreement has been compared to the Paris conference in 2015, which put a limit on global warming at 2° above pre-industrial levels. Global diversity is essential for emission reduction and a key factor in fighting climate change.
The COP15 final deal also includes financial effort by the signing countries to preserve global wildlife. From 2025, developed countries should provide $25 billion yearly, raising it to $30 billion from 2030.
Such financial commitment comes after the COP27 agreement on a “loss and damage” fund. On the very last day of that conference, EU diplomats agreed on a funding mechanism for Third World countries hit by climate change. So far, however, no other details have been disclosed, and discussions will probably continue in the COP28 conference next year.
The disagreement of African countries
The COP15 deal to protect biodiversity should have seemingly brought together every country at the conference. One particular exception, however, came up at the last moment.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a massive central African country home to the second largest rainforest in the globe, opposed the COP15 deal. Indeed, the DRC has increased efforts to destroy its priceless rainforest to exploit the natural resources underneath.
Such a deal would entail abandoning any excavation processes within the rainforest.
The DRC, however, was subject to pressure by other African peers, as well as the international community. Brazil and Indonesia, respectively the countries with the first and third largest forested areas, tried to talk the DRC into the deal.
Eventually, the DRC reluctantly agreed , however hoping that its voice would be heard at the COP16 conference.
In the end, the COP15 meeting was a massive success for the fight against climate change. Not only did it offer a real option to protect global biodiversity, it also did so with achievable and concrete measures.
Unlike other climate conferences, including this year’s COP27, the COP15 ended on a satisfying and uplifting note. Hopefully, it will not be broken in the future.
Argomenti
