Simple plan could raise the billions needed to stem biodiversity loss
New ScientistOCT 20 2024
The latest installment of the UN's biodiversity summit began on Monday in Cali, Colombia, with nearly 200 nations in attendance and around 23K delegates registered to participate.
The summit is the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) of the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity. The convention was signed in 1992 with the objective of conserving biological diversity and ensuring "fair and equitable sharing" of utilizing genetic resources.
The conference is the first since the Kunming-Montreal Global Diversity Framework was signed in 2022, containing 23 targets to be reached by 2030 — including protecting 30% of land and sea area and mobilizing $200B worth of biodiversity solutions.
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With natural habitats across the world vanishing at a dangerous speed, now more than ever the international community, including both state and non-state actors, must come together and commit to solutions to this environmental crisis. Biodiversity is integral to the Earth's sustainability — without immediate action, it may be too late for this alarming trend to ever be reversed.