UN biodiversity talks ‘fall short’ in securing draft commitments

It had been hoped that the week-long negotiations in Nairobi in June would enable Parties to reach a consensus on the text of the framework, designed to replace the failed 2011-2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity. The framework is due to be finalised at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal, Canada in December.

While the secretariat initially anticipated that the meeting would resolve as much as 80% of the question marks hanging over the framework, only two of 23 targets were finalised.

Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, commented: “In the face of catastrophic nature loss and the tragic consequences this is having on humanity, countries are failing to show the necessary urgency – it’s been groundhog day in Nairobi, with all the crucial decisions again kicked down the road.”

Lambertini added that negotiators will need “a step-change in political will, attention and ambition” to salvage “text so divided that it will have no chance to be translated into an agreement at the 11th hour in Montreal”. He also accused Brazil of “consistently blocking progress” on the whole framework.

Meanwhile, a group of environmental scientists, ecologists and policy experts have jointly submitted a letter to journal Science, in which they claim that the proposed framework fails to account for the totality of chemical pollutants present in ecosystems worldwide. In the letter titled ‘Broaden chemicals scope in biodiversity targets’, the authors write that “the draft agreement falls short by limiting itself to nutrients, pesticides and plastics, while many chemicals of high concern and importance are left out of the equation”.

Among the many polluting chemicals that are not currently considered in this agreement are toxic metals such as mercury, persistent pollutants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and chemicals from consumer products, which have been widely shown to pose a threat to humans, wildlife and plant species.

An additional meeting has been proposed just before COP15 in December to provide another opportunity for the negotiators to discuss the framework, however this is subject to the availability of funds.

During the event’s closing press briefing, CBD executive secretary Elizabeth Mrema urged Parties to “vigorously engage with the text, to listen to each other and seek consensus, and to prepare the final text for adoption at COP15”.