Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it.
- Mark Twain
COP15: High-stakes UN biodiversity talks open in Montreal • FRANCE 24 English
What’s Gone is Gone: The Utter Futility of COPs in Saving Our Planet
When it comes to climate change, the debate is about how humanity survives on Earth. But when it comes to biodiversity, the stakes are even starker: whether humanity can survive at all.
That was the dire reality at play during the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the World Wildlife Conservation Treaty in Cali, Colombia. The slogan? “Peace with Nature.” The reality? Open warfare.
The natural world is collapsing at a breathtaking pace, and humanity responds with little more than a shrug.
One million species are at risk of extinction. The web of life is fraying, and the consequences are staggering.
Over half the global GDP is directly endangered by nature’s decline, warns the World Economic Forum. The collapse of insect populations threatens crop production valued at $235 to $577 billion annually.
Food systems—employing 35% of the global workforce—are teetering. Worse, climate change and environmental destruction could force up to 700 million people into migration by mid-century.
The solution? Immediate action to curb humanity’s impact. The result? Empty promises.
Take the Montreal COP two years ago. World leaders proudly announced a “historic” agreement to protect 30% of Earth’s land and oceans by 2030.
They pledged to slash ecologically destructive subsidies and pump $700 billion annually into biodiversity preservation. Headlines hailed it as a triumph of multilateral environmental diplomacy.
Two years later, the results are laughable: an increase of just 0.6% in protected land (now at 17.6%) and 0.2% in protected oceans (8.4%). As for the promised billions? A mirage.
Most funds were supposed to flow from the resource-hungry Global North to the Global South, where biodiversity is richest—and most imperiled. That money? Missing in action.
So, what does biodiversity loss mean for us? Everything.
Our natural ecosystems provide food, clean water, fiber for clothing, raw materials for medicine, and protection from floods and storms. These "ecosystem services" are worth an estimated $16 to $64 trillion annually, according to the IUCN. Yet we are eroding these foundations of life with astonishing indifference.
COVID-19 should have been a wake-up call, highlighting the link between ecosystem destruction and pandemics. Instead, the world’s leaders continue their endless rounds of conferences and negotiations—accomplishing nothing.
Consider the goals of the Montreal COP: by 2030, protect 30% of all ecosystems, curb plastic pollution, reduce agricultural pollution, and ensure fair sharing of profits from genetic resources. It sounds noble. But the truth?
It’s déjà vu. Back in 2009, the world’s governments set the “Aichi Targets” for biodiversity. By the 2020 deadline, not a single one was fully met.
The brutal reality is this: while climate change is an enormous challenge, it’s one with technical solutions. Renewable energy, seawalls, carbon capture—we can adapt.
But biodiversity loss? It’s irreversible. Ecosystems are too complex for a quick technological fix. When species disappear, they’re gone forever.
What’s gone is gone. And conferences like COP? They’re little more than expensive talking shops, where politicians congratulate themselves for meaningless progress while the planet burns.
If we’re serious about saving the natural world—and ourselves—it’s time to stop the charade.
COP16 biodiversity summit signs agreement to grant Indigenous groups a permanent voice (2024)
No comments:
Post a Comment