The EU welcomes as an important step the ‘Kunming Declaration’, adopted on Wednesday 13 October, to record the political commitments of the participants in the intersessional international negotiations on global biodiversity (COP15, first part online).
This non-binding declaration entitled ‘Ecological Civilisation - Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth’ sets general ambitions for the protection of biodiversity (see EUROPE 12809/6).
“We welcome the political commitment expressed in the Kunming Declaration as a good starting point towards the ambitious and transformative post-2020 global biodiversity framework that we need to achieve at the 2nd part of the UN conference”, said European Commissioner for Environment Virginijus Sinkevičius, who represented the EU.
At the opening of the session, he warned that “an approach that focuses on the lowest common denominator will not suffice”.
In particular, the EU defends: - ambitious, measurable and time-bound goals, milestones and targets that will aim to ensure that all the world’s ecosystems are restored, resilient and adequately protected by 2050; - a target to protect at least 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030, complemented by targets to address the direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss and to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources; - operational arrangements for mobilising funding and other means of implementation.
The Chinese representative welcomed the “widespread support for an ambitious and practical post-2020 framework” and the Kunming Declaration.
Greenpeace International, on the other hand, deplored the lack of new commitments for implementation. “Vague commitments that lack accountability are hardly a step forward from the 2010 Aichi targets. Ambition urgently needs to ramp up from here before the spring 2022 session, before it’s too late”, said An Lambrechts of the NGO. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)