Jun 21 2022 20:08
Negotiators from nearly 200 countries began talks on biodiversity in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Tuesday, to work towards an international agreement to protect nature from damage caused by human activities.
Global efforts to protect nature from air, food and drinking water have slowed due to the “Covid-19” pandemic, while the damage is being done at a rapid pace.
At the start of the talks, the United Nations confirmed that the Conference of the Parties on Biological Diversity (COP15), which has been postponed three times after it was scheduled to be held in Kunming, China in 2020, will be held from December 5 to 17 this year in Montreal, Canada.
State representatives in Nairobi should work out in detail a draft text outlining a global framework for “living in harmony with nature” by 2050, and achieving key goals by 2030.
Many hope that the agreement, when completed, will include ambitious goals to protect life on Earth that are as important as the Paris Agreement on climate issues.
The proposals include a global commitment to designate at least 30% of land and oceans as protected areas by the end of the decade, as well as efforts to reduce plastic and agricultural pollution.
“The important thing is to increase protection, restore damaged areas, and try to prevent further degradation of natural habitats due to infrastructure development and pollution,” said Linda Krueger, director of The Nature Conservancy.
Achieving this has become critical as most countries have failed to achieve a similar set of targets set in 2010 over ten years under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.
Source: AFP
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