The “People’s COP” is a meeting of representatives of indigenous communities from across America that calls on countries to fulfill the commitments they made two years ago.
Representatives of indigenous communities across the Americas are participating in what’s called the “People’s COP” to call on countries to honor commitments they made two years ago.
According to Teddy Sinacay Tomas, president of CECONSEC, governments “do not make quick decisions“, “They wait to implement them. They are dedicated to implementing laws, they standardize, but they do nothing to reverse activities and to recover and preserve biodiversity. “
International negotiations are underway to specify the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted by nearly 200 countries at the end of 2022. It includes 23 objectives, including the famous “ 30 by 30 »: protect 30% of the planet’s lands and oceans by 2030.
Sandra Valenzuela, CEO, WWF Colombia: “So far, we have 17% globally in land areas, and only 8% in marine and coastal areas. There is therefore a strong call for action in the national action plans, or in the updated objectives of the different countries, to strengthen protection. But this objective cannot go alone without the other objective, namely objective n°2 which is to promote restoration “.
The EU positions itself for biodiversity
While a majority of countries are struggling to put in place their plan to achieve these objectives, the European Union claims to enter the final discussions as a leader in the fight for biodiversity.
As Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director General of the Environment Department of the European Commission, confirmed to us:
“We had Natura 2000 which is a vast network of protected sites linked together. Thanks to this and the Nature Restoration Act, we are confident that we will reach the 2030 target for the earth relatively quickly. For water, it’s a little more complicated. But we work a lot, we will present a water resilience strategy“.
Important financial negotiations also take place in Cali.
According to the UN, green investments must be tripled to achieve the 2030 goals.
Some 140 ministers and a dozen heads of state are expected for this decisive second week. The Colombian presidency says it is waiting for major decisions to deliver on promises to put an end to the destruction of nature.
