Nairobi, Kenya – Biodiversity negotiations dragged at a glacial pace this week in Nairobi, leaving a heavy workload for final talks in Montreal, where Canadian hosts and the Chinese presidency will need to steer the process and tackle virtually all key issues, including Indigenous rights and key targets to protect and restore ecosystems.
Greenpeace International senior biodiversity campaign strategist An Lambrechts said:
“There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Nairobi forecasts a precarious COP15. The lack of leadership among parties is staggering. It’s an unsettling contrast with their high rhetoric on the urgent need to protect biodiversity. Parties spent March’s Geneva session creating a lot of confusion. We hoped Nairobi would clear things up, but unfortunately they’re still not out of the weeds. A successful outcome at COP15 will require political leadership, real ambition, a timeline for implementation and a commitment to resources and finance, not just declarations and pledges.”
Greenpeace East Asia senior policy advisor Li Shuo said:
“COP15 is the least well-prepared major environmental conference in recent memory. To prevent a dumpster fire in Montreal, the next five months are key. Our planet can hardly afford failure. But there has been so little political attention to salvage this process. Ministers from around the world need to arrive in Montreal with commitments and compromises in hand. China and Canada need to provide leadership now and actively engage one other. The fundamental need to protect nature could and should transcend geopolitics, Montreal is our chance to prove it.”
Unresolved policy issues include recognition of the rights and roles Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCS) in the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), key targets to increase protection and restoration of ecosystems, such as 30×30 (“thirty-by-thirty”) and fundamental implementation issues, such as how sufficient resources will be mobilized to achieve targets in the new GBF.
ENDS
Notes
The policy briefing for a protection target can be found here.
For media enquiries please contact:
Hellen Kahoso Dena, Greenpeace Africa, ([email protected])
Tal Harris, Greenpeace Africa, ([email protected])
August Rick, Greenpeace East Asia, Beijing, ([email protected])
Greenpeace International Press Desk, [email protected], +31 20 718 2470 (24 hours)
