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G7 brightens outlook for new nature pact but pandemic threatens deadline

by Michael Taylor | @MickSTaylor | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Tuesday, 15 June 2021 13:06 GMT

A bumbleebee flies as poppies bloom in the sun in the middle of a rapeseed field in Escaudoeuvres, France, June 13, 2021. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

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Without further in-person talks, the October deadline for the global pact to protect nature is likely to be missed, officials said

* New global deal to protect nature due in October

* Online talks make it harder to advance on sticking points

* G7 leaders back 30x30 target for land and ocean conservation

By Michael Taylor

KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - New pledges by G7 leaders on climate change and biodiversity loss will boost efforts to strike a global pact to protect nature but an October deadline is likely to be missed without in-person talks, officials and observers said on Tuesday.

Nearly 200 countries are expected to agree the text of a new global treaty to safeguard the planet's plants, animals and ecosystems at a U.N. summit from Oct. 11-24 in China, which has already been delayed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

EXPLAINER: What is the COP15 biodiversity summit, and why is it so important?

Basile van Havre, co-chair of the group developing the nature deal for the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), said the equivalent of at least two full weeks of face-to-face negotiations would be needed to prepare for the summit.

"We are facing a perfect storm ... a once-in-a-decade negotiation during a pandemic," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation after six weeks of online talks ended on Sunday.

While work has progressed well, negotiations "may have reached the limit of the online process", he added.

Seasonal fog disapates over the city beneath Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, June 12,2021. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

Better conservation and management of natural areas, such as parks, oceans, forests and wildernesses, are seen as key for protecting the ecosystems on which humans depend and for meeting targets to reduce planet-warming emissions.

But forests are still being cut down - often to produce commodities such as palm oil - destroying biodiversity and threatening climate goals, as trees absorb about a third of carbon emissions produced worldwide.

Last year, a U.N. report showed the world's governments had fallen short on global targets set in 2010 to protect biodiversity, though cases of conservation suggested the destruction of nature can be slowed, and even reversed.

More virtual talks on the new global nature pact are due in August, with the ultimate aim of landing a deal in October similar to the 2015 Paris Agreement under which governments set targets to avert catastrophic climate change.

The in-person meetings vital to reaching an ambitious nature accord would need to happen in September, said van Havre, adding that vaccinating delegates to allow this would likely prove difficult due to worries around queue-jumping in some countries.

"Can you imagine the Paris Agreement being negotiated online? That's the kind of scale we're talking about," he said.

"We have a significant amount of work in front of us... With the energy and engagement of everybody, we can pull this through - we have no choice," he added.

A school of fish swim above a staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) coral colony as it grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

UNRESOLVED ISSUES

Switching the CBD talks online in response to the pandemic has led to connectivity problems for some developing countries, while negotiators and observers in Asia-Pacific have struggled to cope with sessions outside their time zones, said U.N. officials and environmentalists.

Important areas where agreement has yet to be reached include finance and technology sharing, as well as accountability, monitoring and implementation of expected new targets, they added.

"My main concern is a lot of the controversial or difficult issues have been left unresolved," said Georgina Chandler, senior international policy officer at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, a UK-based conservation group.

Chandler, who has attended and followed the negotiations for the last five years, called for clear leadership from key players including the European Union and China, as well as ambition from developing countries.

Van Havre said remaining issues could be overcome given enough time and the right work environment.

On finance, the big challenge is finding the money needed to make economic sectors that directly affect nature, such as agriculture and forestry, more sustainable - which would cost $500 billion-$700 billion annually, he said.

This could be done by redirecting government incentives and subsidies away from harmful things like fossil fuels and fertilisers, he added.

Wild bluebells, which bloom around mid-April turning the forest floor blue, form a carpet in the Hallerbos, also known as the 'Blue Forest', near Halle, Belgium April 20, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman

30x30 MOMENTUM

Last weekend, leaders of G7 wealthy nations pledged to protect at least 30% of their land and oceans by 2030 (30x30) and acknowledged the "existential threat" posed by the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.

The 30x30 proposal has already been backed by a coalition of about 60 countries. The goal is included in the draft for the global nature pact, is gaining support and is unlikely to be dropped, said Elizabeth Mrema, executive secretary of the CBD.

But it will require governments to respect the rights of indigenous groups and communities living in protected areas, said Mrema, noting they often played an important role in conservation.

The G7's recognition of the linkages between climate change and biodiversity loss is significant, Mrema said.

But, for now, the G7 statements "are words" and "we have to see them practically on the ground to really measure their success", she said.

To curb climate change, countries must also tackle biodiversity loss, land degradation, and pollution of the air and oceans, she added.

Li Shuo, a policy advisor at Greenpeace China, said the 30x30 goal was shaping up as "the headline deliverable" from October's summit.

"Anyone standing in the way of it needs to carefully consider the reputational ramifications," he added.

(Reporting by Michael Taylor @MickSTaylor; editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)

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