The UN convention on biological diversity confirmed on Tuesday that the Cop15 biodiversity conference will now take place in Montreal, Canada, from 5 to 17 December, due to China’s strict zero-Covid policy.
According to CTV News Canada, this is the second major international event to be moved from China because of its strict anti-coronavirus policies. China’s environmental ministry said the decision was made “after comprehensively considering the pandemic situation at home and abroad.”
China withdrew last month as host of soccer’s 2023 Asian Cup. It has also indefinitely postponed the 2022 Asian Games, a sporting competition that was scheduled for September in the city of Hangzhou.
In a statement, China’s environment minister Huang Runqiu said the country would like to emphasize its continued strong commitment to working with all parties and stakeholders to ensure the success of Cop15.
COP 15 – We can’t wait any longer
The Biodiversity Summit was supposed to be held in 2020, reports The Guardian, and for nearly two years there has been intense frustration. Fears had been building over the prohibitive cost for smaller countries to participate in Cop15 if it were held in China, along with concerns over restrictions on civil society, Indigenous groups, and the press.
Now, with the meeting, officially moved to Montreal, China will still maintain responsibility for hosting and organizing the event and will do so in coordination with the Canadian government.
Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s environment minister, said the country was proud to host the conference. “There is an urgent need for international partners to halt and reverse the alarming loss of biodiversity worldwide,” he said.
To say that COP 15 is a big deal may be an understatement because it really is important to all of us. Delegates will hammer out the final global biodiversity framework to safeguard nature, which is expected to be adopted.
The summit is expected to bring together thousands of government officials and ministers, along with scientists, environmental activists, and journalists. The central focus of this event will be to conserve at least 30 percent of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030.
Humanity is at a crossroads
Nations have never met a target to halt the destruction of wildlife and life-sustaining ecosystems in the last decade, according to a devastating report from the UN in 2020.
There are fears that this agreement will be a repeat of what has gone before, amid concerns of a standoff with the global north and south over resources to protect natural places.
According to the most recent Protected Planet report by the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, only 17 percent of land habitats and around seven percent of marine areas were protected by 2020.
Li Shuo, a policy adviser for Greenpeace China, said: “Governments have finally made a decision on where and when the Cop15 will be held. This should now focus everyone’s minds on the quality of the deal. That means ambitious targets to ensure strong protection both on land and at sea and a robust implementation package.
