On Monday 14 October, the Council approved the EU’s general negotiating position ahead of COP16 on biodiversity, to be held in Cali, Colombia, from 21 October to 1 November.
Two years after COP15 and the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the priorities are now to implement the agreement and finance the measures.
The 2022 agreement identified four objectives and 23 targets (see EUROPE 13087/3). The aim was to halve global food waste, phase out or reform subsidies that damage biodiversity by 2030, conserve 30% of terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas and restore 30% of degraded ecosystems. The Council, which wants to maintain these ambitions, was particularly pleased to have formally adopted the regulation on nature restoration on 17 June.
The EU must show that it is “at the forefront of this battle”, said French Environment Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher ahead of the discussions on 14 October. To achieve this, the Council advocates a cross-disciplinary approach to the issue. “Biodiversity should be present in all policies and all sectors. We depend on it for medicines, energy, clean air and water, and it protects us from natural disasters”, said the Hungarian Minister for Agriculture, István Nagy, who was also present in Luxembourg. “These challenges know no borders”, emphasised Ionuț-Sorin Banciu, Secretary of State at the Romanian Ministry of Environment.
In order to achieve the objectives of COP15, the Council believes it will be necessary to adopt a process at COP16 to establish precisely the progress made in implementing the measures adopted in 2022. The target set at COP15 was to mobilise at least $200 billion a year in national and international funding for biodiversity by 2030. Because these measures need to be financed, the Council welcomed the creation, in 2023, of the Global Biodiversity Facility, whose purpose is to accelerate and increase investment (public and private).
According to the Council, COP16 should provide an opportunity to adopt a revised strategy for mobilising resources, which would notably involve diversifying the sources (public, private) (Original version in French by Florent Servia)