Colombia’s Susana Muhamad, the Cop16 president, was very proud that they have finally adopted the first global plan to fund the conservation of life on Earth.
Global delegates have cheered for the last-minute Cop16 agreement to map out funding to protect the environment, ending a deadlock with the United Nations (UN) talks, which were a trial for international collaboration in the face of regional tensions.
The developing countries have agreed to raise billions of dollars to protect the species, overcoming the glaring differences derailing their previous Cop16 conference in Cali, Columbia.
Scientists have long warned that immediate action is required. Millions of species are in danger of going extinct due to unsustainable farming, deforestation, plastic pollution, etc, affecting even the most remote parts of the world.
Delegates appreciated the final meeting, which saw agreement on many crucial decisions in the closing minutes of the final day of negotiations held at UN Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome.
Colombia’s Susana Muhamad, the Cop16 president, was very proud that they have finally adopted the first global plan to fund the conservation of life on Earth. She wrote a post on the internet calling it a historic day.
The decision took over two years after the historic agreement to save at least 30% of the world’s land and seas and to slow down the devastation of the environment this 10 years.
This decision would help protect the habitats and wildlife that humans depend on for food, climate control, and economic well-being.
The Cop16 agreement was essential to accelerating that deal.
The meeting took place as the countries faced many issues, from trade disputes and debt concerns to reducing foreign aid by the Trump administration.
Washington did not sign the UN treaty for biological diversity, so they did not send their representatives to the meeting.
According to Canada‘s environment and climate change minister, Steven Guilbeault, the efforts show that multilateralism, wherein multiple countries want to fight for a common goal, can present hope during geopolitical uncertainty.
The inability to reach an agreement in Cali was the first of many failed results from last year’s environmental summits.
Many developing countries criticized the climate finance agreement at Cop29 in Azerbaijan in November as inadequate. There are still talks on plastic pollution and desertification on hold in December.
Muhamad, who resigned as Colombia’s environment minister but continued to serve until after the Rome meeting, states that her team members were pleased and were moved to tears by the last-minute deal.
Brazil put forth a compromise text on behalf of the BRICS (Russia, China, and India) country group, which served as the basis for intense and lengthy closed-door talks on Thursday.
Brazil’s negotiator Maria Angelica Ikeda told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa ) approach aimed to be extremely careful to a wide range of opinions.
Countries have already committed to providing $200 billion annually to fund the environment by 2030, including the wealthiest countries contributing $30 billion yearly to the poorer nations.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that the total for 2022 was around $15 billion.
The decision made has two objectives. One is to find billions of dollars in funding for biodiversity, and the second is choosing the institution that will provide the funding.
Georgina Chandler, the head of the Zoological Society of London’s policy and campaigns, stated that the finance plan was a key milestone but emphasized an urgent need for money.
She stated that just five years are left to stop and reverse the biodiversity loss. So, it is very crucial to raise funds to achieve this goal.
Measures are needed to monitor the countries and to hold them accountable for their progress towards achieving biodiversity targets.
