Delegates from around the world are gathering in Montreal… to address what United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has described as “humanity’s senseless and suicidal war with nature.”
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which kicked off [December 6], comes at a critical time. More than a million species are at risk of extinction globally, many within decades, because of human actions. Destruction of forests, wetlands and other natural ecosystems that clean air and water for the world’s now 8 billion human residents continues worldwide. Climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.
The draft framework for the convention lists more than 20 goals (you can read it here).
The flashiest item on the list is a pledge by member countries to protect 30% of their land and water by the year 2030, a concept known as 30 by 30. The Biden administration has pledged to do that in the U.S., as have scores of other countries.
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Richer countries have a long history of promising to help finance climate and biodiversity projects but haven’t always followed through. Progress was made with the establishment of a fund for “loss and damage” — the climate impacts smaller countries are feeling right now — at the recent climate conference but questions remain about who will put money into it and when.
