As UN COP16 nature talks are gridlocked, scientists warn of extinction risks
New deal uncertain on funding for nature conservation
38% of world's tree species at risk of extinction, IUCN reports
Nations still far from 30-by-30 goal, with 17% land now protected
Updates details of progress on 30-by-30 goal in paragraphs 7-10
By Jake Spring and Oliver Griffin
CALI, Colombia, Oct 28 (Reuters) -Countries were at an impasse over how to fund nature conservation and other key decisions as the U.N. COP16 biodiversity summit entered its second week on Monday in the Colombian mountain town of Cali.
With nature in unprecedented decline and species going extinct faster than ever, scientists warned the world's governments that there is no time to waste.
As of today, roughly 38% of the world's tree species - totaling 16,425 species - are at risk of extinction thanks to timber logging and clear-cutting to make way for farming, mining, road-building and other development efforts, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
"We need to take urgent action ... if we really want to keep these tree (species) alive," IUCN Director Grethel Aguilar told a news briefing in Cali.
The summit, which marks the 16th meeting of parties to the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), is tasked with figuring out how to implement 23 goals outlined in the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework aimed at halting and reversing nature loss by 2030.
Chief among those goals is having each country setaside 30% of its land and sea territory for conservation by 2030 - a target known as the 30-by-30 goal.
As of Monday, only 17.6% of the world's land area and inland waters were under some form of protection, according to the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP). That is far below the 30% goal, though many countries have yet to submit pledges despite this month's deadline.
Commitments for protecting the open ocean were even lower - with only 8.4% of maritime and coastal areas now protected, the UNEP report said.
The UNEP chief urged countries to not only meet the 30% conservation goal , but also to target high-value lands and waterways for protection rather than favoring wastelands or other areas that already have little wildlife and small human populations.
"We cannot be seduced by just these numbers," UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said on the sidelines of the summit. "Nature cannot be put in a museum."
By the summit's end on Friday, negotiators and observers hope to achieve progress on a raft of issues touching on financing, genetic material, Indigenous representation and conservation policy.
"The discussions are going well, but it's a heavy agenda," said David Ainsworth, a spokesperson for the secretariat.
While the intensity of these discussions shows countries' engagement, it is also in some cases a sign "of a relatively low level of trust" between countries, Ainsworth said. "They have a lot of work to do this week."
So far, delegates are close to agreeing on a measure to recognize and include Indigenous groups in biodiversity decision-making, including with a new permanent presence for these groups within the official U.N. CBD process.
But many are watching for COP16 to deliver strong options for funding conservation as a measure of the summit's success.
Summit talks on how to mobilize the billions of dollars needed to halt biodiversity loss this decade were stuck on Monday, as country delegates debated whether there should be an additional fund created to handle this financing.
Reporting by Jake Spring and Oliver Griffin in Cali, Colombia. Editing by Katy Daigle and Marguerita Choy
Pinakabagong Balita
Disclaimer: Ang mga kabilang sa XM Group ay nagbibigay lang ng serbisyo sa pagpapatupad at pag-access sa aming Online Trading Facility, kung saan pinapahintulutan nito ang pagtingin at/o paggamit sa nilalaman na makikita sa website o sa pamamagitan nito, at walang layuning palitan o palawigin ito, at hindi din ito papalitan o papalawigin. Ang naturang pag-access at paggamit ay palaging alinsunod sa: (i) Mga Tuntunin at Kundisyon; (ii) Mga Babala sa Risk; at (iii) Kabuuang Disclaimer. Kaya naman ang naturang nilalaman ay ituturing na pangkalahatang impormasyon lamang. Mangyaring isaalang-alang na ang mga nilalaman ng aming Online Trading Facility ay hindi paglikom, o alok, para magsagawa ng anumang transaksyon sa mga pinansyal na market. Ang pag-trade sa alinmang pinansyal na market ay nagtataglay ng mataas na lebel ng risk sa iyong kapital.
Lahat ng materyales na nakalathala sa aming Online Trading Facility ay nakalaan para sa layuning edukasyonal/pang-impormasyon lamang at hindi naglalaman – at hindi dapat ituring bilang naglalaman – ng payo at rekomendasyon na pangpinansyal, tungkol sa buwis sa pag-i-invest, o pang-trade, o tala ng aming presyo sa pag-trade, o alok para sa, o paglikom ng, transaksyon sa alinmang pinansyal na instrument o hindi ginustong pinansyal na promosyon.
Sa anumang nilalaman na galing sa ikatlong partido, pati na ang mga nilalaman na inihanda ng XM, ang mga naturang opinyon, balita, pananaliksik, pag-analisa, presyo, ibang impormasyon o link sa ibang mga site na makikita sa website na ito ay ibibigay tulad ng nandoon, bilang pangkalahatang komentaryo sa market at hindi ito nagtataglay ng payo sa pag-i-invest. Kung ang alinmang nilalaman nito ay itinuring bilang pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, kailangan mong isaalang-alang at tanggapin na hindi ito inilaan at inihanda alinsunod sa mga legal na pangangailangan na idinisenyo para maisulong ang pagsasarili ng pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, at dahil dito ituturing ito na komunikasyon sa marketing sa ilalim ng mga kaugnay na batas at regulasyon. Mangyaring siguruhin na nabasa at naintindihan mo ang aming Notipikasyon sa Hindi Independyenteng Pananaliksik sa Pag-i-invest at Babala sa Risk na may kinalaman sa impormasyong nakalagay sa itaas, na maa-access dito.
