Financial negotiations stalled at COP15 | COP15

During the night, representatives from southern countries walked out of a meeting on funding measures to protect biodiversity. Differences of opinion became apparent when the discussions focused Creation of a special fund According to David Ainsworth, Information Officer of the United Nations Environment Programme, less wealthy countries should support their efforts.

If one of the main objectives of COP15 is to reach an agreement on protecting 30% of the world’s land and sea areas by 2030, the necessary resources to achieve this must still be available. Current negotiations are not only related to the size of the envelope, but also to the mechanisms that will allow the distribution of funds to the countries most in need.

According to estimates, USD 200 to 700 billion will be needed annually to provide the means to achieve the goal. Money can be significantly leveraged by redirecting subsidies from projects that harm biodiversity to initiatives that support it.

As delegates work in committees to revise the text of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework – which will eventually become the equivalent of the Paris Agreement on Biodiversity – the question of funding will need to be unravelled. The success of this agreement was recalled by Francis Okwal, Co-Chair of the COP15 Working Group.

” You can adopt an ambitious framework as much as possible, but if you are not clear about how it will be funded, implementation will not reach the desired level. »

A comment shared by Eddie Perez, Director of International Climate Diplomacy at Canada’s Climate Action Network. Without funding there would be no global biodiversity frameworkHe insists.

According to him, A Great fear For developing countries, some of them are struggling Economic barriersThere is no evidence to back up their commitments.

Delegates who left the debates at midnight Looking for a more collaborative space where we better understand needsHe sums it up.

Japan and the European Union, which represents 27 states, are reluctant to commit to funding, preferring to postpone these discussions. Attitudes of the European delegation Difficult to understandtoo disappointmentMr. Perez believes.

” We are in the process of adopting the most important global framework of this decade, and the only answer from the EU side is: “We will decide in two years”. »

Parties will need environment ministers from around the world to come to Montreal to address key issues Raise their ambitions, warns Innocent Maloba of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Because for now, according to him, the debates Anxiously slow.

On Tuesday, Canada’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbelde acknowledged that the question of funding is the nerve of this COP’s battle over biodiversity. If Canada’s position is not finalized, the government wants support For existing instruments To release the required amounts, he announced in a press conference. Setting up a new fund can take yearsHe argued.

The 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) concludes on 19 December.