The UN’s head of biodiversity has said that the outcome of Cop27 will be crucial not just in terms of tackling the climate crisis but to help ensure a future for nature.
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the convention on biological diversity (CBD) had outlined plans for “a Paris moment for biodiversity” at Cop15 in Montreal in December.
“Clearly the world is crying out for change, watching as governments seek to heal our relationships with nature, with the climate,” she said. “Scientists have told us in no uncertain terms … that climate change and biodiversity loss are intrinsically connected and that’s why we are looking at the [Cop15] framework as, basically, a Paris moment for biodiversity.”
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Recall that in Paris in 2015, governments agreed on legally binding targets to limit global temperature rises for the first time, pledging to hold global heating to well below 2C, with an aspiration not to breach 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
Flowing from the Cop15 summit in December, which was organised by China but hosted in Canada, governments are expected to agree with a UN move to halt the destruction of the natural world.
Mrema said, “We’re seeing more and more biodiversity agenda appearing in the discussions under the climate Cop.
“The outcomes from Cop27 will be instrumental, and will influence a lot the discussions and specific targets under the framework.”
Deputy executive secretary of the CBD, David Cooper said that the climate crisis remained one of the main drivers of biodiversity decline and that “if we don’t have successful outcomes in the climate process, then we cannot hold and reverse biodiversity loss”.
“We depend on the success of the climate conference, but they also depend on the success of the biodiversity conference,” he added.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
