COP16: the “historic” agreement against the mass extinction of species reaches its first litmus test

Where do we start from?

The planet is immersed in the sixth mass extinction of specieswhich is also occurring at an unprecedented rate in the last 10 million years. Amphibians, mammals, birds, insects… today many of these groups are less numerous and up to a million species – of the eight known – face extinction.

This destruction has a price for humans, as it threatens the way of life on earth. For example, the pollination of 75% of the plants depends on biodiversity. food cropsachieve good water quality or achieve good productivity in the field.

The main responsible for the loss of species is the widespread degradation of habitats, according to the UN Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Services (Ipbes). Between deforestation, intensive agriculture, overfishing or urbanization of the territory, the balance shows that the 75% of the Earth’s environment has been “severely damaged” by human activity and 66% of the marine environment as well.

What did countries commit to in 2022?

Given the seriousness of the situation, the international community signed the so-called Kunming-Montreal World Biodiversity Framework in 2022, which established a total of 23 urgent tasks to comply until 2030. Among them, the best known is the protection of at least 30% of the planet by 2030. But added to this are many other equally complicated objectives: that 30% of ecosystems that are degraded, whether terrestrial, inland waters, coastal or marine, be restored, as well as stopping the extinction of known species. By 2050, the text said, the risk of disappearance must have been reduced by at least tenfold.

Furthermore, it was planned to reduce the impact of the pollution by 2030 at levels that are not harmful to biodiversity. To achieve this, countries must reduce by at least half “the overall risk of pesticides and highly dangerous chemicals. Likewise, plastic pollution must be reduced, food waste must fall by half by 2030 and invasive species must be limited.

There are also issues financial on the table. The capital to be mobilized from 2030 for biodiversity was set at at least 200 billion dollars per year. And financial flows to developing countries should be $20 billion per year by 2025 and $30 billion per year by 2030.

And has any objective been achieved?

Not yet. In fact, there has been little progress so far. In September, 8.35% of the seas and 17.5% of the lands were protected, practically the same figures as in 2022, according to WWF estimates, which uses preliminary UN data.

Furthermore, very few countries have presented their national biodiversity strategies based on the agreement, just 29 countries out of 196 that make up the pact. It is likely that new countries will join throughout the summit. Many others (more than 90), however, have chosen to present a report that lists their national objectives, without details on how they will execute them.

Regarding financing for developing countries, 15.4 billion dollars have been raised in 2022, according to the OECD.

What do they have to do at COP16?

To begin with, countries must present their strategies to safeguard nature. Furthermore, there are precedents for attempts to reverse the loss of biodiversity that ended in failure, such as the text signed in Japan in 2010, which achieved almost none of its objectives. To avoid this, in Montreal the countries agreed to create a tracking mechanism, with common indicators to measure progress and a possible review procedure. This mechanism has yet to be adopted, and will be one of the main points to be negotiated at COP16.

Finally, you must complete the financingwith 20 billion dollars annually going to developing countries by 2025, and 30 billion by 2030.