COP15 Adopts New Deal for Biodiversity

Montreal, Dec. 20 (Jiji Press)--Countries from around the globe, at a U.N. biodiversity conference in Montreal, Canada, have reached a new agreement laying out 23 targets for ecosystem conservation that should be achieved by 2030 to realize a world living with nature by 2050.    Adopted at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, or COP15, on Monday, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework marks a critical step toward conserving biodiversity necessary for human sustainability.    The deal includes a signature target of protecting at least 30 pct of lands, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans on Earth by 2030, or the so-called 30 by 30 goal. It also calls for more financial aid to developing countries, and monitoring and disclosing the impact of corporate activities on biodiversity.    Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu, who chaired COP15, welcomed the agreement, saying that participating countries finally arrived at the destination. At the conference venue, representatives from the nations stood up and cheered in unison when the deal was adopted.    The deal will succeed the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, adopted at COP10 in the central Japan city of Nagoya in 2010. Member nations will move on to the next phase of drawing up their respective plans.    COP15 was originally scheduled to be held in Kunming, China, in 2008, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.    The conference began in the Chinese city in October 2021, mainly online, and restarted in Montreal on Dec. 7 this year.    Although there were many areas of disagreement between developed and developing nations, the two sides gradually narrowed the gap through opportunities such as minister-level meetings held from Thursday to Saturday. Details will be discussed further, however, for some items for which enough debate was not held.    While it will be key for member countries to cooperate with companies in achieving the 30 by 30 target, Japan's Environment Ministry plans to certify within 2023 more than 100 sites managed by companies, such as forests, that are contributing to biodiversity conservation.    "Japanese companies are increasingly eager to make contributions to biodiversity," Teppei Doke from the Nature Conservation Society of Japan said. "We are asked to release 30 by 30 model projects from Japan." END