COP 15: Four Goals, 23 Targets of The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework Adopted

This article is written as part of the 2022 CBD COP15 Fellowship organised by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network. MONTREAL (Canada), Dec 20 (Bernama) -- The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, which consists of four goals and 23 targets, has been adopted Monday at the United Nations (UN) 15th Convention on Parties (COP 15) Biodiversity Summit, held here. A total of 188 out of 196 parties, including the United States and the Vatican as the non-parties, finalised and approved the framework charted out to be achieved by 2030, in two-week intense meetings held at Montreal's Palais des Congrès beginning Dec 7, wrapping up four years of fraught negotiations since 2018. The summit set up ambitious targets for 2030 which, among them, is to effectively conserve and manage at least 30 per cent of the world’s lands and oceans – also known as the “30 x 30 Goals”. A Global Biodiversity Facility (GBF) fund will also be set up with a target contribution of at least US$200 billion per year by developed countries to implement domestic and international biodiversity-related programmes worldwide. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) secretariat, in a statement Monday, said the COP15, chaired by China and hosted by Canada, had approved a series of related agreements on its implementation. "This includes planning, monitoring, reporting and review; resource mobilisation; helping nations to build their capacity to meet the obligations; and digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources. "In fact, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) was requested to establish a Special Trust Fund to support the implementation of the GBF fund, which would complement existing support and scale up financing to ensure the GBF implementation with the adequate, predictable and timely flow of funds," it said. The CBD secretariat said DSI on genetic resources – a dominant topic at COP15 – has many commercial and non-commercial applications, including pharmaceutical product development, improved crop breeding, taxonomy, and the monitoring of invasive species. "COP15 delegates agreed to establish within the GBF a multilateral fund for the equitable sharing of benefits between providers and users of DSI, to be finalised at COP16 in Turkiye in 2024," according to the CBD secretariat. The CBD secretariat said the agreement also obligates countries to monitor and report every five years or less on a large set of "headlines" and other indicators related to progress against the GBF's goals and targets. It said headline indicators include the percent of land and seas effectively conserved, the number of companies disclosing their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity, and many others. The CBD will combine national information submitted by late February 2026 and late June 2029 into global trends and progress reports. Meanwhile, GEF Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairperson, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez said resource mobilisation has been a central theme here in Montreal over the last two weeks, both to reach an ambitious agreement and also to ensure it is implemented. "As the Financial Mechanism of this critical Convention, the GEF takes very seriously our responsibility to function under the authority and guidance of the COP and to be accountable to the COP. "I recognise and appreciate the trust countries have placed in the GEF to work with you to support the early implementation of the agreement, through the GBF Fund, complementing the ongoing support already provided by the GEF Trust Fund. "We will continue to work closely with countries and stakeholders, including local communities, civil society, indigenous peoples, youth, and women, to use the GEF resources wisely and efficiently," Rodriguez said in a statement right after the announcement. About 17,000 delegates from 196 countries, including Malaysia, have gathered in Montreal for the summit to reach a global agreement on protecting Earth’s environment. The overarching aim of COP15’s CBD is to produce a Paris Agreement-style deal for nature to end the degradation of biodiversity, and to accelerate and mainstreaming efforts to conserve threatened species and restore ecosystems and habitats. The Malaysian delegation is represented by 24 officials from the relevant ministries and departments at the federal and state levels. -- BERNAMA