Concluding round of political negotiations at the CBD COP 15 in Montréal starts with the aim of stopping biodiversity loss
Starting today, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke will directly participate in the negotiations for a new, ambitious global biodiversity framework at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montréal, Canada. More than 100 ministers are expected to attend the high-level segment of the conference, where the final political negotiations are taking place. The German Environment Ministry and its partner countries are presenting multiple new initiatives, one of which is intended to ensure that all countries can implement a new, ambitious global biodiversity framework as quickly as possible to kick off the urgently needed trend reversal in biodiversity conservation. At the high-level segment, Federal Environment Minister Lemke will be accompanied by Stefan Tidow, State Secretary at the BMUV, and Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at the BMZ.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke remarked: “In Montréal we have to take concrete steps to stop biodiversity loss. Three things are especially important to me in the final negotiations. First, the new, ambitious global biodiversity framework must contain bold and measurable targets. This alone is not enough. Second, we urgently need effective implementation and compliance mechanisms. Third, we need sufficient financial resources for swift implementation of the new targets. I appeal to all countries and partners and ask that we jointly take the required steps in Montréal to secure the foundations of our lives for the future. Global biodiversity loss and the loss of ecosystems and nature-based services important to human life must finally be reversed. We must move from destruction to restoration and sustainable use of nature.”
A week of intensive negotiations is now behind the approx. 4,000 delegates who travelled to attend the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 15) in Montréal, Canada. The strong political presence starting from the second week of the conference increases the pressure to push for ambitious targets and effective implementation mechanisms for worldwide conservation, sustainable use and restoration of nature. The main sticking points at COP 15 include the level of ambition of the global biodiversity framework, digital sequence information on genetic resources (DSI) and resource mobilisation. In Montréal, Federal Environment Minister Lemke will launch many new initiatives together with international partners in order to move swiftly to implementation following adoption of the new global biodiversity framework. Marine protection, nature-friendly use of the world oceans and marine restoration targets also play a key role at CBD COP 15. For example, decisions are expected on the sustainable use of marine biodiversity that address the increasing pressures of anthropogenic activity on the oceans.
The negotiations so far at the CBD COP have been constructive overall. Breakthroughs were made on agenda items including the two Protocols of the CBD (Nagoya Protocol and Cartagena Protocol) as well as on specific nature conservation issues. In particular, lack of financing is a recurring topic in the negotiations. UN Secretary-General Guterres and Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau opened the conference by cautioning the Contracting Parties to take their responsibility to present and future generations seriously. Non-governmental organisations, indigenous groups, multilateral organisations, representatives of science and business and of course young people are calling emphatically for an ambitious global biodiversity framework with strong implementation mechanisms and sufficient financial resources. At the UN General Assembly in September 2022, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz already committed Germany to providing 1.5 billion euros for international biodiversity financing from 2025.