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Environmental Sustainability
Business Fortune
29 October, 2024
As the U.N. COP16 biodiversity meeting began its second week Monday, countries pledged millions of dollars instead of the billions required, leaving them at a standstill over how to finance conservation and other crucial choices.
On Monday, known as the "finance day" of the summit, seven nations and one province government committed an extra $163 million to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund.
The fund was created to assist in achieving the objectives outlined in the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework of 2022, which aims to stop the loss of biodiversity by 2030. The job of carrying out that accord falls to COP16 in the highland town of Cali, Colombia.
The commitments, according to advocacy organizations, fell well short of the billions of dollars that were intended for the fund, bringing the total amount raised to around $400 million. Scientists cautioned governments throughout the world that there is no time to waste, as nature is in unparalleled decline and species are being extinct at a quicker rate than ever before.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), timber logging and clear-cutting to make way for farming, mining, road construction, and other development efforts are currently putting about 38% of the world's tree species—a total of 16,425 species—at risk of going extinct.
The summit is discussing how to carry out 23 objectives set forth in the 2022 Kunming-Montreal agreement. It is the 16th conference of parties to the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The 30-by-30 goal, which calls for each nation to reserve 30% of its land and marine area for conservation by 2030, is the most important of these objectives.
The UNEP reports that 17.6% of the world's land and waterways are protected, with 8.4% of coastal and marine regions already protected. The UNEP urges nations to prioritize high-value lands and waterways over wastelands.