UN Biodiversity Talks Open In Rome, Assuming Anyone's Going: Ministerial-Level Attendees Largely MIA
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The additional meeting in Rome was called after talks were suspended in confusion in the Colombian city of Cali in November when they overran and delegates left to catch flights home. The failure of the conference to conclude with clear outcomes left some describing global nature targets as “unfunded words on paper”. Since then, international environmental diplomacy has had further setbacks. November’s climate talks in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, ended in what developing countries described as betrayal and failure.
In December, nations failed to reach agreement on how to curb plastic pollution. In the European Union, a longtime leader on nature commitments, a number of countries have scaled back their ambitions or watered down environmental laws.
In January, Donald Trump was inaugurated, and vowed to withdraw the US from the Paris agreement a second time. Although the US is not part of the UN’s convention on biological diversity (CBD), a freeze on spending by USAid and other agencies is creating disruption in developing nations and among conservation projects.
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“It’s not just a question of financial problems, it is a question of whether delegations have confidence in the process,” says Oscar Soria, director of the Common Initiative thinktank, who reports that some delegates see little purpose in going. “The lack of trust is so widespread,” he says. Concerns about lack of leadership have been exacerbated by Colombia’s environment minister, Susana Muhamad, resigning in protest at a cabinet appointment, though she is still expected to chair the meeting. “Imagine that you are in a ship and then the captain resigns,” says Soria.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/25/nature-crucial-cop16-biodiversity-talks-rome-cali-funding-aoe