“Since their beginnings in 1992, global biodiversity summits have offered a spectacle of missed opportunities, broken promises and self-sabotage,” writes Joe Horrocks-Taylor.
The 1992 Rio World Summit Biodiversity Convention was the first global agreement to cover all aspects of biodiversity. It pursued three main objectives: the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components and the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from natural resources. According to a recent commentary from Columbia Threadneedle Investments, successes are limited so far. “Since their beginnings in 1992, global biodiversity summits have been a spectacle of missed opportunities, broken promises and self-sabotage,” writes Joe Horrocks-Taylor, sustainability investment analyst at the manager. of global investments. However, he hopes that it may be different at the second part of COP15, which will be held in December in Montreal, Canada.
Part of the private sector takes the lead
Despite widespread frustration over stalled Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) negotiations, expert says there are positive signs private sector ambitions for nature continue to grow. More than 1,100 companies are calling on governments to take more ambitious action and are taking action now to stem the loss of nature. “Leading companies such as BHP, Teck, GSK, Ikea and H&M are already committing to a positive attitude towards nature and are not waiting for absolute certainty on GBF,” said Horrocks-Taylor. Columbia Threadneedle also supports greater private sector engagement through its role in creating the Nature Action 100 initiative, through its active participation in the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD) forum, and through its critical dialogue with his wallet, he added. “There are some encouraging signs that private sector demands for urgency and level of ambition could reach negotiators.”
Lost Decade 2010-2020
So far, the list of failures is long: “Of the twenty so-called Aichi targets set in 2010 to halt biodiversity loss by 2020, none have been achieved,” writes Horrocks-Taylor. “However, as the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss are increasingly recognised, hope is growing that the impasse in which global biodiversity policy finds itself could change.” The draft action plan to replace the Aichi Targets – the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework – is intended to be the natural counterpart to the Paris Climate Agreement. The plan contains 21 goals, including preserving 30% of land and oceans by 2030, increasing investment in biodiversity to $200 billion a year, reducing pesticide use by at least two third parties and end the disposal of plastic waste. “Even if there is still room for improvement, the relatively high ambition of the project is also promising from the point of view of responsible investors”, judges the expert from Columbia Threadneedle. The clear quantitative targets set there enable businesses and activities to be measured against a common yardstick, support dialogue with businesses to encourage them to take action on biodiversity, and act as a catalyst to strengthen the actions of investors and companies.
The formation of a consensus made difficult by the postponement of the summit
COVID-19 delayed the crucial COP15 summit on signing the framework by two years. In June 2022, it was finally confirmed that the meeting would be moved from Kunming in China to Montreal. This uncertainty about the date and place hampered the building of consensus ahead of the summit. “Fears that participating countries are still divided on many biodiversity-related issues have been confirmed by the limited progress made in meetings leading up to the 2022 summit in Geneva and Nairobi. The main points of disagreement remain the scale of financial flows in favor of biodiversity in developing countries, the objective of preserving 30% of land and oceans by 2030 and the elimination of subsidies harmful to the environment. , summarizes Horrocks-Taylor on the eve of the summit. He is skeptical that the tide will turn again in the second part of the COP15 conference, but he shouldn’t give up on his dreams.