UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Sunday for “significant investments” in a fund to protect the earth’s biological diversity. On video, he addressed delegates during a gathering at the world’s largest nature summit in the Colombian city of Cali. Meeting officially begins on Monday. – We must leave Cali with significant investments in the Nature Convention (GBFF), as well as commitments to mobilize other sources of public and private funding, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, according to the AFP news agency. The GBFF fund aims to preserve and restore biological diversity in nature. Guterres emphasized that the destruction of nature increases conflict, hunger and disease and contributes to poverty. – A collapse in nature, such as a lack of pollination and clean water, will cause the global economy to lose trillions of dollars every year. It will go worst beyond the poorest, he said. – Those who profit from nature must also contribute to protecting and restoring it, he added. High security Security is at its peak in the city, when one of the biggest summits on natural diversity ever takes place in the Colombian metropolis. Heavily armed police and armored vehicles have been patrolling the center of the city and the area around the conference center in recent days, writes the AFP news agency. Several experts believe the UN summit could be very important in stopping the extinction of species such as jaguars, dolphins and elephants and preserving vulnerable nature. A recent report from the World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF, shows that the population of several species has fallen by over 70 per cent in the last 50 years. Over 12,000 delegates from nearly 200 countries are expected at the meeting, including 140 ministers and a number of heads of state. – The time for words and false promises is over if we want to save the planet, the world-renowned British researcher Jane Goodall told AFP ahead of the meeting. The military and police patrolled the streets of Cali ahead of the UN nature summit. Photo: JOAQUIN SARMIENTO / AFP “Price agreement for nature” The meeting is the first after the historic nature agreement was adopted at the nature summit in Montreal in December 2022. It was referred to as a “P for nature”, and states, among other things, that 30 percent of land, coastal and marine areas on earth must be preserved by 2030. After two weeks of negotiations in Canada, 196 countries agreed on a nature agreement in December 2022. Then-Minister for Climate and Environment Espen Barth Eide (left) cheers for the agreement, together with negotiator Gaute Voigt-Hanssen. Photo: Eivind Molde / news Now the question is: What has happened these two years? Have the countries followed up? They are obliged to present their own action plans before the meeting in Colombia. But out of 196 countries, over 80 percent of the countries have not delivered by the deadline. Norway presented its plan, the nature report, on 26 September. – Unfortunately, it seems that with crises and conflicts in the world in the last couple of years, nature is being given a lower priority. That’s what Sverre Lundemo, senior adviser at WWF Norway, says to news. – We have the knowledge, we have the solutions. But the political will is lacking, says Lundemo. Macaw is one of many rare parrot species in Colombia. Photo: JOAQUIN SARMIENTO / AFP “Peace with nature” The nature summits take place every two years. This time it is Cali in Colombia that is the meeting place for what is conference no. 16 (COP16). Envoys from all the countries that have signed the UN Convention on Biological Diversity gather here. It was adopted at the Environment and Development Conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. “Peace with nature” is the slogan for COP16. Susana Muhamad is Minister of Environmental Protection in Colombia and head of the UN summit on biodiversity. Photo: JOAQUIN SARMIENTO / AFP Susana Muhamad is Minister of Environmental Protection in Colombia and head of the Nature Summit. Colombia is one of the countries in the world with the greatest natural diversity, according to the UN. The left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, has since coming to power in 2022 prioritized the environment and climate. The Minister of Environment, Muhamad, has emphasized several times that a one-sided focus on cutting climate emissions without simultaneously protecting nature can “pose a danger” to humanity. The government announced ahead of the meeting that it will give the country’s indigenous people more power to protect the country’s ecosystems. – It sounds nice, but it is superficial. We are still in the same situation as we have been in for several decades where we have to shout at the politicians to protect the environment. That’s what Harol Ipuchima, leader of an indigenous group in the Amazon and participant in the meeting told The Guardian. Nature under pressure There are only five years until the goals of the Montreal Agreement to conserve 30 per cent of land and sea areas must be met. At the meeting in Cali, the delegates will discuss how this can be possible and systems to check that plans are followed through. In addition, financing will be a key point. The agreement states that the international community must raise several hundred billion dollars by 2030 for measures to preserve nature and species. The meeting is organized in a year when Brazil and several other countries in South America have experienced extreme drought and record fires. – The COP in Cali is a great opportunity to tell the authorities in the world that our rivers are drying up, that agricultural production is stagnating and that climate change is a growing problem. That is what Julio Cusirichi Palacios, political leader in the largest umbrella organization for indigenous peoples in Peru, AIDESEP, told news. Damage to cars after an attack near a police station in Jamundi a few days before the UN Nature Summit starts in Cali. The authorities accuse a defector group from the Farc guerrillas of being behind it. Photo: JOAQUIN SARMIENTO / AFP Threats from guerrilla groups President Petro, who himself is a former guerrilla soldier, has “total peace” as his slogan. Now the guerrilla group EMC, which is a breakaway group from the Farc guerrillas, has made threats against the summit and warned foreign delegates to stay away. Cali is the nearest major city in EMC-controlled territory. The EMC is led by rebels who did not accept the peace agreement the FARC signed with the government in 2016. The warnings come after the group has been subjected to military attacks in the southwestern Cauca region, where the group is accused of drug trafficking and illegal mining. In the areas surrounding the summit, 11,000 police officers and soldiers must therefore be on guard, in cooperation with security forces from both the UN and the USA. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has promised that delegates’ safety is guaranteed, and Cali’s mayor has assured that the city is ready for the summit. Published 21.10.2024, at 04.18 Updated 21.10.2024, at 04.27
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