Wildlife & Biodiversity

COP15 Montreal: 3 days of ministerial talks on Post-2020 GBF end with limited success

The final text of the GBF is expected to be released on the morning of December 18, local time   

 
By Vibha Varshney
Published: Sunday 18 December 2022
COP President Huang Runqiu reiterated the call to finalise and adopt an ambitious, robust, and implementable GBF. Photo: @CBD_COP15 / Twitter

Will biodiversity see a ‘Paris moment’ at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal, Canada? The question still stands as three days of high-level talks involving ministers have ended with limited success.

The ministers were supposed to provide political direction and momentum to the final stages of the negotiations on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

The successes included assurance regarding resource mobilisation. There is now consensus that $200 billion will be made available every year from all sources by 2030.

However, it is not clear how this funding would be disbursed. Some Parties favour the establishment of a stand-alone fund outside the existing funding structure while others want to improve the existing funding mechanisms. 

In case of digital sequence information too, ministers reported back that the text is almost final. It is quite likely that a multilateral fund would be established where users of biodiversity would pay and ensure that the benefits accrued from the use is shared with the providers.  

A press meeting of the High Ambition Coalition was organised by the Government of Canada and CBD Secretariat. There, ministers pointed out that the target of 30X30 is likely to be accepted even though the existing text has multiple brackets. 

The issue of rights of indigenous people is also going to be kept under consideration while finalising the text of this target. 

The ministers pointed out that the 30X30 target is a headline target and it cannot be implemented without tackling issues such as increasing finance and reducing harmful subsidies.  


Read Humanity stands at crossroads to protect biodiversity: COP15 president


Representatives from civil society lamented the progress in finalising the GBF at a press meeting organised by the CBD Alliance. They said the GBF is turning out to be a “Global Biodiversity Fraud” or a “Global Biodiversity Funeral.”

COP President Huang Runqiu reiterated the call to finalise and adopt an ambitious, robust, and implementable GBF. While progress has been made, more work is needed, said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the executive secretary of the UN CBD. 

The conference ends on December 19, 2022 and it is imperative that parties finalise the GBF. However, the text of the Framework is still riddled with square brackets.

The final text of the GBF after negotiations in working groups and contact groups is expected to be released on the morning of December 18, local time.

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