COP16 began: urgent call for biodiversity and concern for marine areas

The COP16 It started this Monday in Colombiaconcluding its first day with urgent calls to care for biodiversity. They demanded concrete investments and agreements to stop their destruction “before it’s too late.”

The summit belonging to the United Nations aimed at protecting nature, lasts two weeks and includes the participation of 196 States members of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Includes about 23,000 accredited people for participation, including a dozen heads of state and a hundred ministers. According to the organizers, it is the busiest edition of the COP.

At par, indigenous communities march in the streets of Caliwhere the summit takes place, with traditional outfits and canes. The objective of these is that their ancestral knowledge about caring for the planet are taken into account.

Among them, Oswaldo Mucaof the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazonhe asked “direct financing” as “compensation” for protecting nature.

On the other hand, strict security measures had to be taken, due to the threats from a guerrilla group that warned of a possible attack on the junta.

It is that the largest faction split from the extinct guerrilla of the FARC, the Central General Staff (EMC), is in war footing against the government and intends to hinder the event.

The first day of COP16

The day was marked by the importance of raise fundsexplained by the local president, Gustavo Petro, who stressed that the climate agreements “they are not fulfilled because the most powerful countries simply do not have the will.”

“We are six years away from the end of 2030 and progress towards the goal is almost zero. At this rate, we will not reach that goal until the next century,” he warned. Megan Randlespublic policy advisor of that environmental NGO, in relation to the infulfillment of promises of the last edition of the summit.

Back in 2022, in the COP15 celebrated in Montrealall participating countries had committed to declare 30% of its soils and seas as natural conservation areas by 2030. However, the majority appear to have not complied.

In fact, according to an official report published by Grennpeace the same day of the day, indicates that only 8.4% of the world’s oceans were designated as Marine Protected Areas.

Furthermore, until now only 35 countries out of 196 They presented the roadmap to meet the main objectives, according to the CBD. There is progress “but not at the pace we need,” said its executive secretary, Astrid Schomaker

For its part, UN Secretary General António Guterresurged the parties to make a “significant investment” in the Global Framework Fund for Biodiversity (GBFF), created in 2023 to achieve the objectives of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, with 23 goals to “stop and reverse” biodiversity loss until 2030.

New commitments and promises for biodiversity

During this first day of COP16, countries committed to contributing US$250 million to the GBFF. However, these contributions are part of a broader agreement so that nations can mobilize at least $200 billion annually until 2030 to adequately protect biodiversity.

This includes US$20 billion annually until 2025 from the wealthiest nations, to help developing countries.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had warned that more than a quarter of the species evaluated by the organization are in danger of extinction. There is a red list of threatened animals and plants.

He also confirmed that wildlife populations decreased by 73% in the last 50 years, from 1970 to 2020, according to the NGO.

The political director of this organization, LinLi, said: “If we do not address the causes of biodiversity loss, our ecosystem will enter a tipping point, basically a point of no return“.