European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius was in Argentina on Monday and Tuesday, 2 and 3 May, to prepare for the second part of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15, Kunming), which the EU hopes will lead to an ambitious post-2020 framework (see EUROPE 12910/20) for global biodiversity this year.
Argentina was the third stop on his visit to Latin America, following Colombia (see EUROPE 12939/3) and Brazil (see EUROPE 12943/14).
Biodiversity conservation, cooperation in combating deforestation and forest degradation, and preparations for the [UN] Ocean Conference in Lisbon (27 June) and the next meeting of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources were at the heart of his meetings with Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development Juan Cabandié and other members of the government.
From Ushuaia on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, the European commissioner stressed the importance of the EU’s proposed creation of two new marine protected areas in the Antarctic, “which could be the largest marine protected area in the world” (see EUROPE 12802/4).
The commissioner was able to talk with researchers and marine biologists as well as environmental organisations. Tuesday evening, he was scheduled to fly to Uruguay, where he will complete his South American tour. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)