The Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia, Susana Muhamad, assumed this Monday in Cali the presidency of the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP16) in the first plenary session of this meeting in which he warned that time runs against nature.
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“The planet cannot afford for us to waste time”said the minister, who asked the world “not to be distracted” Well, biodiversity must be protected. Muhamad thanked the UN and the more than 190 participating delegations for having “placed its trust in Colombia to assume the responsibility of hosting this very important meeting”and in his opening speech he recalled that “By rehabilitating ecosystems we can create the security we need for all people, not with weapons or genocides or wars”.
The Colombian minister received the presidency from her previous president, the Minister of Ecology and Environment of China, Huang Runqiu, whose country hosted the last edition of the Biodiversity COP together with Canada, and to whom Muhamad gave a replica of the symbolic dove of peace, the work of Colombian artist Fernando Botero.
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Furthermore, he recognized the challenge that this summit represents after the success of COP15, in which the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was approved, which “It was not an easy task” but it was “an important step that has allowed us to see the light in terms of the capabilities we have to recover and preserve nature”.
For this reason, he assured that this COP will be “an arduous task” since “it is not merely about negotiating agenda items, it is not about agreeing on terms that will be included in documents,” which is why he asked the delegations “ work together” to be able to “deliberate sincerely”.
“It is normal that it is difficult to agree on some elements in these multilateral processes, but we must be willing to reach convergence formulas, and this will be fundamental for the success of this conference,” the minister insisted.
The Colombian minister received the presidency from her previous president, the Minister of Ecology and Environment of China, Huang Runqiu.
EFE
Five key themes
“We have to agree for this COP16 to be successful on at least five issues”continued the president of the Conference, who indicated that one of them is a work program for indigenous peoples and local communities.
Likewise, he insisted on the urgency of addressing the issue of financing the objectives adopted to stop the loss of biodiversity: “We lack funds. “We all agree that we need new sources of financing,” said.
In this sense, he also urged the creation of a monitoring mechanism to avoid “wasting time knowing if one is fulfilling what one promised or not.”
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“This should not be perceived as an imposition of multilateralism on each State. It has to be a collective agreement so that we can be accountable transparently to citizens.”considered Muhammad.
Finally, he added that this COP will be the stage to assume “full responsibility and accountability to the citizens of the world”.
“I welcome you all, with all my heart, to Cali, to the Colombian Pacific and to this sixteenth Conference of the Parties”said Muhamad, officially beginning the negotiations that will take place until November 1 in this biennial event that pursues the objective of reversing the loss of biodiversity on the planet.
EFE
