China submits a draft convention to protect biological diversity

It’s the decisive day in Montreal for a new global agreement on protecting nature and biodiversity Under COP15. While yesterday the hope of finding a middle ground reappeared, China, which presides over this edition, has just submitted its draft from which the final text must be determined. Ministers from about 200 governments must now iron out the details by Monday.

30 by 30 at the table

Among the 23 goals in this project, China finally retained the “30 by 30” principle which stipulates the protection of 30% of land, coastal and sea areas by 2030. If negotiations are completed, this will be one of the main actions of COP15. A key point in the negotiations, it was presented as a biodiversity equivalent to the Paris target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

However, as reported by Reuters, the “30 by 30” target does not contain a global target and makes only limited reference to oceans, which could leave international waters unprotected. To date, only 17% of the land and 8% of the seas have been protected.

Another major stumbling block in the negotiations relates to the financial mobilization to be provided by States and the private sector in favor of biodiversity. China gradually proposes the level of financial resources to reach at least $200 billion annually by 2030. Of this total, by 2025 the most developed countries must contribute – or voluntary – at least $20 billion annually in international aid to LDCs. countries, small island developing states and countries with economies in transition, 30 billion by 2030.

Developing countries called for an increase in aid paid by rich countries to protect nature to 100 billion dollars annually, which is currently estimated at between 7 and 10 billion euros. The project did not mention the establishment of a new fund to manage these sums, which were once again requested by the countries of the south, which was one of the main points of contention that exceeded the allocated sums.

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A compromise that does not satisfy everyone

Monitoring mechanisms were better taken into account to avoid the failure of the last ten-year plan signed in Japan in 2010. This did not achieve any of its objectives, due to the lack of appropriate mechanisms. The text also leaves shadow points. It asks states to “encourage and enable” companies to assess and disclose how they impact and are affected by biodiversity, without making it mandatory. Limiting pesticide use has also been evaded, but the text only states that the risks of pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals must be reduced by at least half.

“We’ve made tremendous progress,” he welcomed alongside Canadian Environment Minister Stephen Guilbault, the de facto co-leader of the summit, which could not be held in China due to Covid-19. An optimism not shared by New Zealand’s Conservation Minister Botto Williams: “We can’t keep asking nature to make concessions.”

Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu told him on Saturday, “It is not a complete document, not a document that satisfies everyone, but it is a document based on everyone’s efforts over the past four years, and it is a document that must be adopted.