CBD to Decide the Future of Earth's Biodiversity

A critically-important meeting is taking place in Nagoya, Japan this week, which deals with analyzing and deciding on the measure that will ensure the perpetuation of biodiversity on Earth.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) 10 meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a component of the main international mechanism through which all decisions related to preserving biodiversity are taken.

Even if at this point the world suffers extreme biodiversity loss, basically on a daily basis, there seems to be little initiative on the part of the participants to stem this loss, which could have dire consequences.

As proof, the first few days of the meeting were characterized by little progress, especially due to fights between countries from the developed and developing worlds.

The Third World and developing nations hold most of the endangered species, and request support to help protect them, but the developed world, which is responsible for the global loss, does not want to help out.

Still, some analysts do believe that a successful agreement is possible this year. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says that strong leadership and commitment on the part of the Ministers of Environment attending COP10 cold ensure the meeting ends with a positive decision.

“What we need to see is a global alliance to protect life on Earth but what we have seen so far are alarming divisions and a hardening of positions” says the Director General of WWF International, Jim Leape.

“Governments need to value nature, from an economic and intrinsic perspective. It is in their interest to come up with a strong outcome,” the official adds.

Given that this conference's job is to decide the future of the international struggle against biodiversity loss for the next decade, the refusal of the developed world to fund the effort is puzzling to say the least.

“Developed countries have not put forward any significant new funds to enable developing countries to implement the rescue plan for the next decade,” Leape explains.

“A successful outcome of this conference and in fact the very future of our children and grandchildren hinges on finding a sustainable way of protecting, sharing and benefiting from the immense natural wealth that our planet provided us with,” the official adds.

The expert also identified three main issues that need to be worked out for a successful agreement: a strategic plan setting 2020 targets, a deal on financing this protection, and an agreement on how to equitably share the world's genetic riches,

“If we don’t agree to ways value and conserve what nature gives us, we face considerable threats to our food security, water security, and our economic stability,” Leape argues.

“That’s why we are calling on delegates here in Nagoya to put aside their differences and take responsibility for the future and for the health of the planet,” he concludes.