Parties and friends, did you really think ECO would let you forget that today is Biodiversity Day here at COP27? Today is about far more than minimizing the climate impacts on ecosystems (although we hope that massive species extinction might worry you, just a little bit). We are here to remind you that there is currently no pathway to 1.5°C without halting and reversing biodiversity loss NOW. We need Parties and all actors, following the example of the stewardship of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, to keep protecting nature in its amazing complexity to help us fight climate change. Sadly, some of you prefer to ignore that.
Science and traditional knowledge show us that nature is not just a nice “add-on” but essential in mitigating, helping adapt to, and preventing loss and damage from the climate crisis. Do you recognize these pillars? Of course, you do. They’ve been central to your conversations over the past 10 days, as well as the 7 years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement. Your Paris text, and your COP decisions (most recently in Glasgow), refer repeatedly to the importance of biodiversity, forests, the ocean and ecosystems in climate action. You say publicly that you are committed to these texts, but actions speak louder than words. Some of you still drag your feet, and look for excuses when it comes to mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystems in this process and in NAPs, NDCs and LTSs. ECO has also been hearing things like “Nothing outside the UNFCCC process in the cover decision?” OH, COME ON!
Well, ECO is here to say that without biodiversity, there will be no social and climate justice. Nature cannot pay the bill for fossil fuels; and it must be able to…well…just BE, and get on with supporting life on Earth – which includes us, by the way…right?
So, we’re looking at you, members of the Cartagena Dialogue, the High Ambition Coalition, the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature, the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Nature, and the Lisbon Declaration: Our ocean, our future, our responsibility. We’re looking at you, USA and China, and thinking of the ‘Paris Moment’ that the UNFCCC’s sister, the Convention on Biological Diversity, will have in Montreal in just a few weeks. However, the CBD negotiations have foundered over the last two years. We need a strong political signal in the cover decision at COP27 to bolster the collective push for a robust and ambitious post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. So, how about giving your sister a helping hand in Sharm El Sheikh? The world will thank you.