At COP17 on biodiversity, the world commits to getting efforts to protect nature back on track

A final outlet but questions remain. The world agreed on the night of Friday October 30 to Saturday October 31 on key texts to protect nature at COP17 on biodiversity in Armenia, at the end of two weeks of tough negotiations which also highlighted persistent differences on certain thorny subjects.

Applause rang out shortly after the evening opening of the final session when Armenian Environment Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan announced the adoption of two important compromise texts. "There you go. Perfect," he said, visibly relieved.

“Acceleration” of efforts

The first text adopted is supposed to represent a "global review" of the 2022 Kunming-Montreal biodiversity agreement, considered the equivalent of the Paris Climate Agreement. This agreement sets 23 objectives to be respected by 2030 such as the protection of 30% of land and oceans, the fight against pollution and the restoration of degraded ecosystems. But almost everyone is late. The text adopted at COP17 aims to put States back on track.

“Although the text is neither particularly exciting nor detailed, the simple fact that the countries were able to find an agreement is good news,” said Catherine Weller, of the NGO Fauna et Flora. In a working document, countries were called upon to “accelerate” their efforts. It was also stressed that "strengthening measures" aimed at tackling the root causes of biodiversity loss was necessary, but in several formulations.

Monique Barbut criticizes the agreement

During the negotiations, the issue of subsidies and other incentives for activities harmful to nature, such as oil exploitation, was hotly discussed. “Even if the final decision says it in rather weak terms, we felt significant political momentum on the subject of harmful financial incentives, including on subsidies,” said An Lambrechts of Greenpeace International to AFP.

The second adopted text concerns money, the question being who must pay to achieve the financial objectives set for 2030. A red flag at a time when public finances are deteriorating all over the world. The European Union tried during the COP to convince large emerging countries, notably China, to enter the official list of donors, not updated since 2006.