The UK Government is calling on the world to unite and agree a deal that delivers for nature and ends species extinction.
The 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15) is taking place in Canada until 19th December. The meeting will set the framework for the next decade of global action on biodiversity loss.
Hosting a reception with prominent environmentalists at the Natural History Museum in December, the Environment Secretary will reiterate the importance of reaching a robust agreement to restore and conserve nature at this year’s summit and set out the UK’s role in helping drive this.
WWF Chief Executive Tanya Steele said:
“COP15 is about saving our own life support system. Nature is the source of our health, security and prosperity but WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022 revealed the sheer scale of its loss, with an average 69% decline in the size of global wildlife populations since 1970.
“The stakes are high, and time is running out. This summit is a chance the world must not miss to agree a global deal to reverse nature loss by 2030. World leaders must deliver a landmark agreement for nature to bring our world back to life.”
At the conference, the UK will negotiate to:
- Halt and reverse biodiversity loss
- Protect 30% of the world’s land and ocean by 2030.
- Halt species extinctions
- Increase the mobilisation of resources from all sources to fund the global effort to halt nature loss
- Eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies
- Align all financial flows with the goals and targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework
- Agree mechanisms for holding countries to account for implementing the framework
- Share benefits that arise from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources.
The UK government is also pledging today to launch a new multi-million fund next spring as a key part of our plan to help halt and reverse species decline in England. The new funding will support habitat creation and ecosystem restoration, including in England’s most special sites for nature, and support delivery of our own ambitious commitments at home, including our legally binding 2030 species target and ‘30by30’ pledge.
