COP15, epochal agreement to stop the loss of biodiversity by 2030.African states' calls for a fund for the most vulnerable countries are ignored

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After more than four years of negotiations, repeated delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and late-night talks, on December 18, nearly 200 countries - among them not the United States or the Vatican - they signed an agreement at COP15 on biological diversity, hosted by Canada and China, to halt biodiversity loss by 2030.The agreement, defined as one of a kind, appears to have been imposed by the Chinese president, ignoring the objections of some African states.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) negotiator appeared to block the final deal presented by China, telling the plenary that he could not support a document that did not create a new biodiversity fund, distinct from the existing UN Global Fund. Environment Facility (GEF).China, Brazil, Indonesia, India and Mexico are the largest beneficiaries of GEF funds, and some African states wanted the final agreement to include more funding for conservation.“I come from a country in the Congo basin, rich in biodiversity, which has sacrificed itself for all humanity by sacrificing its resources.We expect a match of our efforts.We were on the right path and we think that what we saw was a strong hand." he stated the representative of Congo.

However, moments later, Chinese Environment Minister and COP15 President Huang Runqiu signaled that the agreement was concluded and approved, to the disbelief of negotiators from Cameroon, Uganda and the DRC, who spoke of “fraud” and “coup d’état” against COP15.

The agreement, if implemented, could mark major changes in agriculture, business supply chains and the role of indigenous communities in conservation, writes The Guardian, in a world now populated by more than 8 billion people and marked by the collapse in the number of insects, the acidification of the oceans, filled with plastic waste, and the excessive consumption of the planet's resources.

The current situation (erosion of biodiversity, degradation of soil, water and mineral resources) requires a radical change in our model of society, he observed on the eve of the final agreement an article by Le Monde.Be inspired by the principles of environmental and social justice and move away from a productivist and extractivist model, based on the idea of ​​unlimited growth, which requires excessive consumption of living and mineral resources and imposes a continuous demand and production of energy.The energy binge and its consequences on the climate are symptomatic of an economic system whose functioning is incompatible with the present and future sustainability of the Earth, he continues Le Monde.However, the study of ecological systems has taught us that infinite growth is simply impossible on a planet with limited resources.If the COP process on biodiversity is to work, the United Nations must ensure that all voices are heard.

The final text sets the goal of protecting 30% of the planet by the end of the decade, reducing subsidies deemed harmful to nature - such as those that support agriculture or unsustainable fishing - by 500 billion dollars per year. year by 2030 and to restore 30% of the planet's degraded terrestrial, inland aquatic, coastal and marine ecosystems.Governments also agreed on urgent action to stop human-caused extinctions of known threatened species.While the Montreal-Kunming Agreement is not legally binding, governments will be tasked with demonstrating their progress in meeting the targets with national biodiversity plans, similar to Nationally Determined Contributions, which countries use to demonstrate progress in achieving of the Paris climate agreement.

“The objective known as '30 by 30', i.e. the commitment to protect 30% of the planet - both terrestrial and marine - for nature by the end of the decade, is valid and has a good chance of being implemented by civil society of many countries, as was the 'net zero' for emissions", comment an editorial by Guardian.“The concept of national biodiversity plans, with a similar function to that of nationally determined contributions in the UN climate process, is also valid.”

However, on other aspects the final agreement is weak and vague, and the fact that it is not legally binding raises fears for its implementation.“The goals to end species extinction are very vague and, although there are encouraging words about 'promoting sustainable consumption patterns', the text does not go further,” comment Craig Bennett, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts.“It suggests that transnational corporations and financial institutions should ‘regularly monitor, assess and disclose their impacts on biodiversity,’ but it does not call for the mandatory reporting that many have hoped for.”

Funds for biodiversity

The main issues mainly concern funds.As mentioned, African states were asking for a new fund.In one of the preparatory meetings for COP15, held in Nairobi in June, Brazil put forward a proposal for a new "Global Biodiversity Fund" of 100 billion dollars a year for biodiversity, to be established by 2023 and to be made operational by 2025.The proposal had been collected from 22 developing countries.

This proposal was opposed from the United Kingdom and the European Union who have however proposed to increase reserved investments in biodiversity.And so in the end governments agreed to create a new fund within the UN's main biodiversity financing mechanism - the Global Environment Fund - and to commit to discussing a separate fund in the future.

In its current form, the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), reports Carbon Brief, hopes to mobilize “at least $200 billion per year” by 2030 from “all sources,” national, international, public and private.Rich countries have agreed to provide $30 billion in biodiversity aid by the end of the decade, a substantial increase from current levels.

Indigenous rights

COP15 was an opportunity for indigenous leaders to recognize their rights as custodians of biodiversity, writes Always Carbon Brief.According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), “at least a quarter of the global land surface is traditionally owned, managed, used or occupied by indigenous peoples” and, of this surface, almost 70% can be classified as a "protected" area or "area with very low human intervention".Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) depend on nature for “subsistence, sustenance and health”, but their lands are coming under pressure from extractivism and energy and transport projects, IPBES adds.At the same time, the establishment of protected areas means the expropriation of the lands of which the indigenous people are considered custodians.

Read also >> The plan to protect 30% of the land and sea divides COP15 participants on biodiversity:“The 30x30 goal cannot be achieved without indigenous peoples”

According to the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), in the COP15 outcome document, indigenous rights were incorporated into the objectives of "spatial planning, conservation of 30% of land areas, inland waters and coastal and marine areas by 2030, sustainable customary use of traditional knowledge and participation and respect for the rights of IPLCs on lands, territories and resources". It's the beginning of a new era for Indigenous-led conservation, writes New Scientist.However, asks Viviana Figueroa, representative of the IIFB, “how will the parties ensure the achievement of these objectives?”

EU member states reach agreement on a gas price cap mechanism but the impact does not appear to be significant

After weeks of bitter discussions, EU member states have agreed on a mechanism to cap wholesale gas prices.The plan - called the market correction mechanism - will come into force on February 1, 2023 and will be activated starting from February 15 for contracts with a maturity of 2 months, 3 months and 1 year.

The mechanism will be activated when gas prices exceed 180 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) and are at least 35 euros higher than the international average price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for three consecutive days, so as not to put the Europe's gas supplies, reports Le Monde.This is not a real cap on the price of gas.The mechanism ensures that the price of gas does not reach values ​​higher than the price of liquefied natural gas plus the 35 euro premium:“The TTF price can therefore take on values ​​higher than €180/MWh as long as the difference with the LNG price remains equal to €35”, observe Simona Benedettini on Twitter.

Once activated, the price limit will apply for at least 20 business days and can be deactivated if the ratio between natural gas and the price of liquefied natural gas plus the premium is less than 180 euros per megawatt hour, the European Commission declares a state of emergency, the mechanism increases gas consumption or reduces trade between states Members or to the TTF.[Continue reading here]

The European Union has reached a crucial agreement for climate policies on the carbon market

The European Union reached an agreement to review the current carbon market (ETS) and establish a fund to help low-income people switch to cleaner forms of transport and heating.Introduced in 2004, the carbon market regulates emissions trading from tens of thousands of EU industries and power plants, responsible for almost half of member countries' overall emissions.The system sets an overall maximum limit of emissions that these entities can emit and allows companies with more emissions to purchase quotas from the less polluting ones and thus pollute more than they are allowed, while always remaining within the limit established by the Union European.The maximum limit is reduced from year to year.If it is exceeded, very heavy fines are expected.However, the system has been circumvented by Member States in various ways over the years.

EU negotiators have established that energy producers and large polluters, covered by the ETS, will have to reduce their emissions by 62% by 2030, 1% more than initially proposed by the European Commission.The agreement also stipulates that all revenues generated by the carbon market "shall" be spent on climate action.

Free CO2 certificates, granted to industry to remain competitive against rivals outside the Union, will be completely phased out by 2034, eight years after the entry into force of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a tax mechanism on imports of certain products (such as cement, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity generation, hydrogen, iron and steel) from countries that do not have the same environmental standards as the EU.[Continue reading here]

International Energy Agency:“Global coal consumption will reach an all-time high this year”

A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that global coal consumption is set to rise to record highs in 2022 and remain at similar levels in the coming years if greater efforts are not made to shift to low carbon economy.The IEA forecasts that global coal consumption will increase by 1.2% in 2022, surpassing 8 billion tonnes in a single year for the first time and the previous record set in 2013.It also predicts that coal consumption will remain stable at this level until 2025.[Continue reading here]

“How are we going to live?” The stories of the peasant families in Congo expropriated of their land to make way for Total's compensation project

Among the actions implemented to combat climate change, countries and energy companies can offset their carbon emissions through compensation projects, such as, for example, the planting of land in those countries that emit less but are more exposed to the effects of climate crisis.However, these actions can lead to land expropriations and have devastating effects on local communities.

This is what is happening, for example, in Congo, where a compensation project of the oil giant TotalEnergies is causing a crisis the local farmers, expropriated of their fields to allow the planting of trees over an area of ​​40,000 hectares and the creation of the Forest Neutral Congo (FNC).

“Since this project came here, we haven't been working anymore.With grandchildren and children, how will we live?, asks Pulchérie Amboula, whose economy revolves around the cultivation of land inherited from his father, on the Batéké plateaus, a vast rolling savannah in the Republic of Congo.Amboula grows cassava, and produces and sells foufou, a staple of the region.“The kids won't study anymore.We no longer have fields, how will we pay for their studies?If we get sick, where will we find the money to treat ourselves?I feel like these people have come to kill us in our own land.”

According to Total's project, the acacia trees planted on the 40 thousand hectares of land will allow the sequestration of over ten million tonnes of CO2 in 20 years.The first plantings began about a year ago.The project will generate carbon credits that Total will use to offset some of its emissions.But the project, as testified by Pulchérie Amboula in an investigation by SourceMaterial e Unearthed, is coming at a high cost to the families of the Batéké highlands who have lived off these lands for generations.[Continue reading here]

With climate change, Sweden has become an extraordinary wine-growing area

In most of the Northern Hemisphere, the harvest ended months ago.But in Sweden, with temperatures of -8°C and 15cm of snow, it has only just begun.With rising temperatures and up to 23 hours of summer sun to ripen innovative wine varieties, Swedish wineries are booming.Despite being relatively small (150 hectares), Swedish vineyards have grown by 50% in the last two years and are expected to more than double within five years.In the long term, it is estimated that they could grow to 10,000 hectares and become a new billion-euro industry.[Continue reading here]

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