Agreement reached at COP15

Leaders have hailed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at the COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal as a victory for the north and south.

The framework, presented two years late because of the pandemic, was agreed upon by 195 countries and the European Union at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity on Monday. It commits the parties to stop and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Huang Runqiu, president of COP15 and China's minister of ecology and environment, said he appreciated the parties' and leaders' support, especially that of Canada, saying the host country and China had a long history of friendship and collaboration.

As such, the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development was initiated by Canada in the 1990s and continues to operate.

"This cooperation has had a great impact not only on China, but also on the world," Huang said, adding that healthy and stable China-Canada ties are good for both countries.

David Cooper, deputy executive secretary of the convention, said success in Montreal had been achieved thanks to a "combination of leaders from the north and the south".

"It has been emblematic, but also enabling of the process to reach agreement over these days. It's not easy to get 196 nations to agree on every word in the framework. It is a triumph of multilateralism."

However, the framework will only be successful if it is fully integrated, Cooper said.

"It's not just implemented by governments, but all sectors of the economy. In fact, beyond that, we need a (whole of) society approach."

China's leadership, instrumental in landing the deal, has been lauded by international leaders.

Espen Barth Eide, Norway's minister of climate and the environment, who was one of the members of ministerial consultations during the high-level meeting, said he was very happy to work with Huang.

Eide along with Maisa Rojas, Chile's minister for the environment, managed to put together a document on digital sequence information, which African countries have long sought backing for.

"The Chinese presidency has been doing a very good job," Eide said. "We are able to give a clean text to the presidency so that we can find a quite new innovative solution. Now I will go home to Oslo and immediately start thinking about how to follow up."

Huang pledged to lead all parties to carry out the framework, with China continuing to hold the presidency over the next two years.

Finance gap

The agreement includes a commitment to mobilize at least $200 billion a year by 2030 in financial flows from many sources, including public and private sectors, to progressively close the biodiversity finance gap of $700 billion a year, and aligning financial flows with the framework and the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity.

Huang said action to be taken will include establishing a Global Biodiversity Framework Fund next year, establishing a multilateral mechanism for digital sequence information benefit sharing, and starting an open-ended work group discussion for reporting to COP16, which will be held in Turkey at the end of 2024.

"We will comprehensively guide and promote the relevant process of inter-sessional meetings before COP16, actively guide the implementation of the framework goals, and ensure that relevant decisions passed are fully implemented," Huang said.

Oscar Soria, campaign director of the international activist group Avaaz, said: "The result of COP15 opens a new chapter of hope in the fight to keep our world a livable place for all. Implementing this deal will require increased and sustained mobilization."