Biodiversity Convention Completes Tepid Agreement; Meanwhile, It's 2025 & Global Wildlife #s Have Fallen 70% In 50 Yrs
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The decision comes more than two years after a landmark deal to slow the rampant destruction of nature this decade and protect at least 30% of the world’s land and seas. That would protect ecosystems and wildlife that humans rely on for food, climate regulation and economic prosperity. The meeting comes as countries face a range of challenges, from trade disputes and debt worries to the slashing of overseas aid – particularly by the Trump administration.
Washington, which has not signed up to the UN’s convention on biological diversity, did not send representatives to the meeting. But others at the summit expressed frustration at the agreement’s lack of ambition when it comes to the environmental crisis. The negotiator from Bolivia, Juan Carlos Alurralde Tejada, raised concerns about the text “diluting” commitments to biodiversity and opening the path to an “indefinite discussion” on who will pay for conservation and how to distribute the money. “Biodiversity cannot wait for a bureaucratic process that lasts for ever, while the environmental crisis continues to get worse,” Alurralde said. “Forests are burning, rivers are in agony and animals are disappearing.”
Meanwhile, the overarching ambition to halt nature loss by 2030 is looking more difficult to reach, with global wildlife populations having plunged by more than 70% between 1970 and 2020, according to the most recent assessment, with no sign of slowing. “Honestly, it’s almost impossible when you see the trends of where things are going,” said Max Fontaine, environment and development minister in Madagascar, one of the most biodiverse countries. “We are not going in the right direction, we all need to strengthen efforts.”
Five years to implement the biodiversity targets was not enough, said the Liberian negotiator, Datuama Cammue, who believed the UN process had been too slow. “It will take a lot of financial input and expert input to get it done. With this type of spirit, I really don’t think that it’s possible.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/28/cop-16-climate-nature-funding-agreement