“All of you deserve applause. COP16 President Susana Muhamad of Colombia states, “You have done a fantastic job.”
Countries have applauded a last-minute agreement to allocate funds for environmental preservation, ending a standoff at UN negotiations viewed as a test of global collaboration amid geopolitical tensions.
Rich and developing nations overcame sharp differences that had derailed their last summit in Cali, Colombia, last year to reach a fragile agreement on Thursday on generating and providing the billions of dollars required to safeguard species.
Key agreements were agreed in the final minutes of the final day of restarted discussions at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome, when delegates stood and applauded during an emotionally charged final meeting.
“All of you deserve applause. “You’ve done a fantastic job,” Colombian President Susana Muhamad told COP16.
She described the day as “historic” and added, “we achieved the adoption of the first global plan to finance the conservation of life on Earth,” in a post shortly after on X.
“Hope”
The 2022 accord, which saw nations vow to stop the destruction of nature by the end of this decade and safeguard 30% of the world’s land and seas, is thought to have been sparked by the COP16 agreement on Thursday.
Additionally, the discussions were viewed as a signpost for global collaboration in general.
The gathering takes place while nations deal with a number of issues, including trade conflicts, debt concerns, and the reduction of foreign aid, especially by US President Donald Trump.
No representatives from Washington, which has not ratified the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, attended the conference.
The Canadian Environment and Climate Change Minister, Steven Guilbeault, stated, “Our efforts demonstrate that multilateralism can present hope at a time of geopolitical uncertainty.”
The first of several unsatisfactory results from last year’s environmental summits was the inability to reach a consensus in Cali.
Developing nations blasted a climate finance agreement at COP29 in Azerbaijan in November, while separate talks on plastic waste and desertification stalled in December.
Members of her team were moved to tears by the last-minute agreement, according to Muhamad, who resigned as Colombia’s environment minister but continued to serve until after the Rome meeting.
“Major turning point”
Brazil presented a “compromise attempt” text on behalf of the BRICS (Russia, China, and India) country bloc, which served as the basis for extensive behind-closed-door negotiations on Thursday.
Prior to the present international tensions, finance was a hot topic, according to Brazil’s negotiator Maria Angelica Ikeda, who told the AFP news agency that the BRICS proposal aimed to be “very sensitive” to a wide range of opinions.
By 2030, nations have already committed to providing $200 billion annually in environmental funding, with the wealthiest nations contributing $30 billion annually to the poorer ones.
According to the OECD, the total for 2022 was roughly $15 billion.
The decision made on Thursday lays out two primary lines of action for the upcoming years: identifying the institutions that will provide the billions of dollars in additional support for biodiversity.
The Zoological Society of London’s Head of Policy and Campaigns, Georgina Chandler, called the finance roadmap a “key milestone” but emphasized the urgent need for funding.
“With only five years left to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, securing the necessary funds to accomplish this mission is more essential than ever,” she stated.
In order to hold nations responsible for their progress toward achieving biodiversity targets, other measures aimed to strengthen monitoring.
