Reacción a "COP17 on biodiversity concludes with minimal agreements"

COP17 on biodiversity is yet another example of how the geopolitical situation and polarisation are hindering multilateral progress on environmental issues. Reaching a consensus has proved very difficult; negotiations have dragged on until the early hours of the morning and, although some decisions have finally been taken, many others have been deferred to COP18 in 2028 in Ecuador.

One striking feature of this COP17 has been the outright attack on science by certain countries, which have remained intransigent when it comes to accepting and incorporating the findings of the IPBES Nexus and Transformative Change reports, adopted at the IPBES 11 plenary in Namibia. Although it was finally agreed to include in the text that the findings of these two IPBES reports “are welcomed”, the scientific language was watered down during the various rounds of negotiations.

This prompted the scientific community present at COP17 to take action; together with a group of 55 countries plus the EU, including all 27 Member States, they presented a statement at the final plenary session highlighting the essential role of informed, science-based environmental and biodiversity conservation decisions in meeting the 23 targets set by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.