AFP and Reuters
La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, October 30, 2024, p. 11
Cali. The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres, yesterday led the launch of the World Coalition for Peace with Nature, after the installation of the high-level segment of the sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-16 ), which takes place in this Colombian city, where he called on countries to act immediately to protect the planet.
He asked to leave the existential crisis
that is leading to the destruction of nature, by intervening before the heads of state and ministers gathered to unblock negotiations at COP-16, the largest United Nations summit on this issue, which seeks to establish mechanisms to finance and monitor the compliance with the 23 natural conservation goals set in Canada two years ago.
Every minute we dump a garbage truck of plastic waste into our oceans, rivers and lakes. Make no mistake. This is what an existential crisis looks like
Guterres told hundreds of delegates at the most attended biodiversity conference in history.
Under the motto Peace with Nature
the 196 nations of the Convention on Biological Diversity have been trying since October 21 to agree on how to meet the objectives set in the Kunming-Montreal agreement: put 30 percent of the planet under minimum protection, reduce the risks of pesticides and the introduction of invasive species, as well as mobilizing 200 billion dollars annually for nature.
Time is short. The summit ends on Friday and negotiators remain embroiled in rivalries between rich and developing countries, mainly over financial issues. A preview of the confrontation expected at the COP-29 climate conference, which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November.
No country, rich or poor, is immune to the devastation caused by climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation and pollution.
Guterres warned. COP 16 brings together heads of state from Colombia, Ecuador, Armenia, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti and Suriname, as well as 115 ministers and 44 vice ministers.
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, gave a 45-minute speech criticizing capitalism and against fossil fuels.
In the world, only 17.6 percent of the territory and 8.4 percent of the oceans and coasts are protected, several environmental organizations noted in the report. Protected Planet.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature reported that of the 166,061 plant and animal species that the organization evaluates, some 46,000 are at risk of extinction.
