AFP UK

Canadian Minister of the Environment and climate change Steven Guilbeault speaks to media during the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP15) in Montreal

Hopes of sealing a historic “peace pact with nature” at a United Nations biodiversity summit hang in the balance as the world’s environment ministers began the final phase of high-stakes talks on Thursday.

Stark divisions remain to be bridged, foremost among them the subject of how much developed countries will pay developing nations to help them save ecosystems, and whether there should be a new, dedicated fund for this purpose. 

At stake is the future of the planet and whether humanity can roll back habitat destruction, pollution and the climate crisis, which are threatening an estimated million species with extinction.

The draft agreement contains more than 20 targets, including a cornerstone pledge to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and seas by 2030, as well as goals to eliminate harmful fishing and agricultural subsidies, tackle invasive species and reduce pesticides.

“A sound ecosystem is essential for the prosperity of civilization,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a video message that opened the high-level segment.

“We must work together to promote harmonious coexistence between man and nature.”

China is chairing the summit but is not hosting because of its strict Covid rules, leaving Canada to step in and hold the meeting in Montreal, one of North America’s coldest cities, in deep winter.

“A brilliant Canadian artist, Joni Mitchell, sent us a message in a song — that we have ‘paved paradise and put up a parking lot,'” said Canada’s environment minister, Steven Guilbeault, who was once a radical activist nicknamed “Green Jesus.”

“We listened to her music and sang along but didn’t really understand her message. We must live in harmony with nature, not try and dominate it,” he added.

In the absence of heads of state and government, more than a hundred ministers will have to drag the text, four years in the making, over the finish line.

But its success is still far from assured after disagreements over the thorny issue of biodiversity financing led to a walkout by negotiators from developing nations overnight Tuesday and a temporary pause in talks.

– New fund sought –

The Global South, home to most of the world’s biological diversity, wants a new global biodiversity fund (GBF) to help them meet goals, for example by setting up protected areas.

But rich countries are opposed — and propose instead making existing financial mechanisms more accessible. 

This debate mirrors a similar disagreement during recent UN climate talks in Egypt on creating a “loss and damages” fund for the most climate-vulnerable nations — though that demand was eventually met.

Dozens of nations, including Brazil, India, Indonesia and many African countries are also seeking funding of $100 billion yearly, or one percent of global GDP, until 2030. 

Current financial flows from high-income countries to lower income ones are in the order of $10 billion per year.

A crisis meeting of heads of delegations, organized on Wednesday by China, which is chairing the meeting, brought negotiators back to the table following the breakdown.

A Western negotiator who declined to be named told AFP: “The African group wants to reach an agreement with money in front, other developing countries too, but Brazil is using the financial question to derail the process.”

The source said the Brazilian delegation is still following the policies of outgoing far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who is very close to the agricultural industry, which is hostile to reducing pesticide use.

Nevertheless, developing countries are angered by what they see as a lack of ambition.

“This has led to the negotiations now being on the edge of a full breakdown,” said Innocent Maloba of WWF International.

Beyond the moral implications, there is the question of self-interest: $44 trillion of economic value generation — more than half the world’s total GDP — is dependent on nature and its services.

The technology involves genetically modifying egg-laying hens so that, when carrying male embryos, those do not progress and hatch 

Israeli scientists have created egg-laying hens that only produce females, a breakthrough that could help end the annual culling of around seven billion male chicks globally. 

The chicks, born from egg-laying, are destroyed en masse by suffocation or crushing because they are not suitable for meat production and do not lay eggs. 

Animal rights activists have denounced the practice as barbaric, and it has been banned in several European states. 

A German prohibition on male chick culling came into effect this year. French farmers have until year’s end to comply with new restrictions. 

A team at the Israeli Agricultural Research Organization-Volcani Center has used gene editing to develop hens that only gives birth to females. 

Except for this vital change, they are “completely identical to the breed of hens that lay edible eggs and are currently used in agriculture,” according to Huminn, the American-Israeli firm which partnered with the Volcani Center.

The researchers say this is the only option to substantially curb mass male chick culling around the world. 

“This is a world first and the only solution that is easy for industry players to implement,” team leader Yuval Cinnamon, a Volcani Center embryologist, told AFP. 

He said technologies that seek to identify whether an egg is carrying a male or female embryo are not reliable.

The Volcani Center, based in the Tel Aviv suburbs, developed the technique following seven years of research with Huminn, which in part specialises in commercially viable sustainable food production. 

– ‘Most serious problem’ –     

The technology involves genetically modifying egg-laying hens so that, when carrying male embryos, those do not progress and hatch. 

“After fertilisation the male embryos do not develop, and the female embryos develop normally without being genetically modified and hatch normally,” Cinnamon explained. 

“This will provide a real answer to what is probably the most serious animal welfare problem in the world today,” he added.

Beyond the animal rights benefits, the technology could offer poultry producers huge savings in terms of the space and energy required to operate incubators while reducing the significant culling costs. 

“It costs a dollar to cull each male chick, so that’s seven billion in savings a year,” Cinnamon said.

Huminn has forecast that commercial benefits from the technology could emerge within two years. 

At a meeting in October, European Union agriculture ministers said they would consider a bloc-wide ban on culling male chicks from egg-laying hens, pending the results of an impact assessment. 

The technology involves genetically modifying egg-laying hens so that, when carrying male embryos, those do not progress and hatch 

Israeli scientists have created a species of egg-laying hens that only produce females, a breakthrough that could help end the annual culling of around seven billion male chicks globally. 

The chicks, born from egg-laying, are destroyed en masse by suffocation or crushing because they are not suitable for meat production and do not lay eggs. 

Animal rights activists have denounced the practice as barbaric, and it has been banned in several European states. 

A German prohibition on male chick culling came into effect this year. French farmers have until year’s end to comply with new restrictions. 

A team at the Israeli Agricultural Research Organization-Volcani Center has used gene editing to develop a new species of hens that only gives birth to females. They say this is the only option to substantially curb mass male chick culling around the world. 

“This is a world first and the only solution that is easy for industry players to implement,” team leader Yuval Cinnamon, a Volcani Center embryologist, told AFP. 

He said technologies that seek to identify whether an egg is carrying a male or female embryo are not reliable.

The Volcani Center, based in the Tel Aviv suburbs, developed the species following seven years of research in partnership with the American-Israeli firm Huminn, which in part specialises in commercially viable sustainable food production. 

– ‘Most serious problem’ –     

The technology involves genetically modifying egg-laying hens so that, when carrying male embryos, those do not progress and hatch. 

“After fertilisation the male embryos do not develop, and the female embryos develop normally without being genetically modified and hatch normally,” Cinnamon explained. 

“This will provide a real answer to what is probably the most serious animal welfare problem in the world today,” he added.

Beyond the animal rights benefits, the technology could offer poultry producers huge savings in terms of the space and energy required to operate incubators while reducing the significant culling costs. 

“It costs a dollar to cull each male chick, so that’s seven billion in savings a year,” Cinnamon said.

Huminn has forecast that commercial benefits from the technology could emerge within two years. 

At a meeting in October, European Union agriculture ministers said they would consider a bloc-wide ban on culling male chicks from egg-laying hens, pending the results of an impact assessment. 

Canadian Minister of the Environment and climate change Steven Guilbeault speaks to media during the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP15) in Montreal

Hopes of sealing a historic “peace pact with nature” at a United Nations biodiversity summit will soon rest on the world’s environment ministers, arriving in Montreal for the final phase of talks beginning Thursday.

Stark divisions remain to be bridged, foremost among them the subject of how much developed countries will pay the developing to help them save ecosystems, and whether there should be a new, dedicated fund for this purpose. 

At stake is the future of the planet and whether humanity can roll back habitat destruction, pollution and the climate crisis, which are threatening an estimated million species with extinction.

The draft agreement contains more than 20 targets, including a cornerstone pledge to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and seas by 2030, eliminate harmful fishing and agriculture subsidies, tackle invasive species and reduce pesticides.

“I hope what we would have at the end of this… is a Paris moment,” said Zakri Abdul Hamid, science advisor for the Campaign for Nature, referencing the landmark climate accord that agreed to hold long-term warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.  

“Decades of study have also clarified what the world must do,” he added.

In the absence of heads of state and government, more than a hundred ministers will have to drag the text, three years in the making, over the finish line.

But its success still hangs in the balance after disagreements over the thorny issue of biodiversity financing led to a walkout by negotiators from developing nations overnight Tuesday and a temporary pause in talks.

– New fund sought –

The Global South, home to most of the world’s biological diversity, wants a new global biodiversity fund (GBF), something rich countries oppose — proposing instead making existing financial mechanisms more accessible. 

This debate mirrors a similar disagreement during recent UN climate talks in Egypt on creating a “loss and damages” fund for the most climate-vulnerable nations — though that demand was eventually met.

Dozens of nations, including Brazil, India, Indonesia and many African countries are also seeking funding of $100 billion yearly, or one percent of global GDP, until 2030. 

Current financial flows from high-income countries to lower income ones are in the order of $10 billion per year.

A crisis meeting of heads of delegations, organized on Wednesday by China, which is chairing the meeting, brought negotiators back to the table following the breakdown.

A Western negotiator who declined to be named told AFP: “The African group wants to reach an agreement with money in front, other developing countries too, but Brazil is using the financial question to derail the process.”

The source said the Brazilian delegation is still following the policies of outgoing far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who is very close to the agricultural industry, which is hostile to reducing pesticide use.

Nevertheless, developing countries are angered by what they see as a lack of ambition.

“This has led to the negotiations now being on the edge of a full breakdown,” said Innocent Maloba of WWF International.

Beyond the moral implications, there is the question of self-interest: $44 trillion of economic value generation — more than half the world’s total GDP — is dependent on nature and its services.

The summit has failed to garner the same level of attention as the UN climate meeting held in Egypt in November, which brought together more than a hundred world leaders.

This meeting is being held in Canada after China declined to host because of its strict Covid rules, and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been the only leader in attendance.

For MapBiomas, the spike in November 2022's fire numbers was a surprise — the month usually coincides with the rainy season

Fires scorched almost two million acres of territory in Brazil in November, according to data released by an NGO group Wednesday, nearly 90 percent more than in the same month last year.

That is an area about three-quarters of the size of the Brazilian Amazon city of Manaus.

More than 80 percent of the burned land is located in the Amazon rainforest, according to MapBiomas, the NGO consortium made up of nonprofits, Brazilian universities and startups that use satellite imagery to track the destruction of natural lands. 

“The data confirms the escalation of environmental destruction in the final months of the Bolsonaro government,” the organization said in a statement. 

Fires and deforestation have increased since right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a proponent of expanding mining and farming in the Amazon, took office in 2019.

In October, Bolsonaro lost re-election to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will take office in January and has promised to “fight for zero deforestation.”

For MapBiomas, the spike in November’s fire numbers was a surprise as the month usually coincides with the rainy season.

“Clearly this is a reaction to the expectation of more effective anti-deforestation and anti-fire policies from the new government,” said Ane Alencar, MapBiomas Fire coordinator and director of science at the Institute of Amazonian Environmental Investigation.

Together with November’s numbers, the area burned in the first 11 months of 2022 totaled about 40 million acres, or just under the size of Uruguay, according to MapBiomas, a 13 percent increase over the same period in 2021. 

Nearly half of that land is within the Amazon, the group said. 

A deforested area of the Amazon rainforest seen during a flight between Manaus and Manicore, in Amazonas State, Brazil

The thorny issue of how much money wealthy countries are willing to pony up to protect the world’s remaining biodiversity took center stage Wednesday at UN talks in Montreal aimed at creating a “peace pact with nature.”

At stake is the future of the planet and whether humanity can roll back habitat destruction, pollution, and the climate crisis, which are driving the sixth mass extinction of plant and animal species. 

Negotiators worked late into the night Tuesday, but “the atmosphere deteriorated when the group started discussing concepts, in particular the global biodiversity fund (GBF) proposal,” said UN spokesman David Ainsworth, leading to a walkout by developing nations.

The GBF is a new financial instrument sought by low-income nations to help them, for example, establish marine or terrestrial protected areas and implement biodiversity action plans.

A long pause in technical talks on other items was resolved after China, the chair, held an hours-long meeting of the heads of delegations Wednesday, though the finance issue isn’t yet settled.

“Our territories are home to most of the biological diversity of the world,” said a statement by Brazil, which added existing financing mechanisms were not up to the task.

Brazil, which also spoke on behalf of some other developing countries, including the African Group, added that the new fund should provide $100 billion yearly, or one percent of global GDP, until 2030. 

Financial flows from the Global North to South for biodiversity are currently estimated at around $10 billion annually.

Wealthy nations say they would rather reform existing financial mechanisms and leverage more private sector funding.

The deterioration in dialogue came on the eve of the high-level phase of negotiations involving the environment ministers of the 196 members at the Montreal summit, called COP15, which began on December 7 and is set to run to December 19.

“The walkout that happened last night is a signal of a pivotal moment in the negotiations that we needed,” Masha Kalinina of The Pew Charitable Trusts told AFP. 

“It draws important attention to this negotiation, especially as the leaders are arriving today and tomorrow. So we are waiting with bated breath.”

Brian O’Donnell, director of the Campaign for Nature, told reporters: “If we want to find a source for increased finance for biodiversity, it’s simple: let’s place a windfall tax on those companies that have driven biodiversity loss – primarily the oil and gas companies and the mining companies.”

– ‘Have you no shame?’ –

The talks have more than 20 targets, including a cornerstone pledge to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and seas by 2030, eliminating harmful fishing and agriculture subsidies, tackling invasive species and reducing pesticides.

Science shows that time is running out.

An estimated million species are threatened with extinction, a third of the world’s landmass is degraded, comprising the productivity of soil, while pollution and the climate crisis are destroying marine ecosystems.

Beyond the moral implications, there is the question of self interest: $44 trillion of economic value generation — more than half the world’s total GDP — is dependent on nature and its services.

But the summit has failed to garner the same level of attention as a UN climate summit held in Egypt in November, which brought together more than a hundred world leaders.

The meeting is being held in Canada but chaired by China, which declined to host because of its strict Covid rules.

The only world leader in attendance is Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Speaking at a press conference organized by the nonprofit Avaaz, Hollywood actor and activist James Cromwell singled out French President Emmanuel Macron in particular, for opting to visit Qatar to watch the soccer World Cup semifinal instead of coming to the COP.

“It’s tragic that it takes an actor to come up here to talk about issues,” he said. “Have you no shame?”

A deforested area of the Amazon rainforest seen during a flight between Manaus and Manicore, in Amazonas State, Brazil

The thorny issue of how much money wealthy countries are willing to pony up to protect the world’s remaining biodiversity took center stage Wednesday at UN talks in Montreal aimed at creating a “peace pact with nature.”

At stake is the future of the planet and whether humanity can roll back habitat destruction, pollution, and the climate crisis, which are driving the sixth mass extinction of plant and animal species. 

Negotiators worked late into the night Tuesday, but “the atmosphere deteriorated when the group started discussing concepts, in particular the global biodiversity fund (GBF) proposal,” said UN spokesman David Ainsworth, leading to a walkout by developing nations.

The GBF is a new financial instrument sought by low-income nations to help them, for example, establish marine or terrestrial protected areas and implement biodiversity action plans.

A long pause in technical talks on other items was resolved after China, the chair, held an hours-long meeting of the heads of delegations Wednesday, though the finance issue isn’t yet settled.

“Our territories are home to most of the biological diversity of the world,” said a statement by Brazil, which added existing financing mechanisms were not up to the task.

Brazil, which also spoke on behalf of some other developing countries, including the African Group, added that the new fund should provide $100 billion yearly, or one percent of global GDP, until 2030. 

Financial flows from the Global North to South for biodiversity are currently estimated at around $10 billion annually.

Wealthy nations say they would rather reform existing financial mechanisms and leverage more private sector funding.

The deterioration in dialogue came on the eve of the high-level phase of negotiations involving the environment ministers of the 196 members at the Montreal summit, called COP15, which began on December 7 and is set to run to December 19.

“The walkout that happened last night is a signal of a pivotal moment in the negotiations that we needed,” Masha Kalinina of The Pew Charitable Trusts told AFP. 

“It draws important attention to this negotiation, especially as the leaders are arriving today and tomorrow. So we are waiting with bated breath.”

Brian O’Donnell, director of the Campaign for Nature, told reporters: “If we want to find a source for increased finance for biodiversity, it’s simple: let’s place a windfall tax on those companies that have driven biodiversity loss – primarily the oil and gas companies and the mining companies.”

– ‘Have you no shame?’ –

The talks have more than 20 targets, including a cornerstone pledge to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and seas by 2030, eliminating harmful fishing and agriculture subsidies, tackling invasive species and reducing pesticides.

Science shows that time is running out.

An estimated million species are threatened with extinction, a third of the world’s landmass is degraded, comprising the productivity of soil, while pollution and the climate crisis are destroying marine ecosystems.

Beyond the moral implications, there is the question of self interest: $44 trillion of economic value generation — more than half the world’s total GDP — is dependent on nature and its services.

But the summit has failed to garner the same level of attention as a UN climate summit held in Egypt in November, which brought together more than a hundred world leaders.

The meeting is being held in Canada but chaired by China, which declined to host because of its strict Covid rules.

The only world leader in attendance is Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Speaking at a press conference organized by the nonprofit Avaaz, Hollywood actor and activist James Cromwell singled out French President Emmanuel Macron in particular, for opting to visit Qatar to watch the soccer World Cup semifinal instead of coming to the COP.

“It’s tragic that it takes an actor to come up here to talk about issues,” he said. “Have you no shame?”

It was left therefore to actor James Cromwell — a man who has played a US president four times on screen — to lend the event some star power and try to inject a sense of urgency into talks

A high-stakes UN summit in Canada seen as vital to saving the world’s biodiversity has failed to attract a single world leader beyond the host country’s prime minister Justin Trudeau.

It was left therefore to actor James Cromwell, a man who has played a US president four times on screen, to lend the event some star power and try to inject a sense of urgency into talks.

At stake is the future of the planet as habitat destruction, pollution, and the climate crisis imperil ecosystems and drive a million species that depend on them to the brink of extinction.

“Capitalism is a cancer that has metastasized from its origins in Europe, and now covers every aspect of our lives all over the entire world,” said the lanky 82-year-old, in fiery remarks that channeled his anti-corporate character in the HBO series Succession.

“It is rapacious. It is cruel, it is destructive. And it does not work,” he added.

“We’re in now the Sixth Mass extinction,” he went on, “brought on by the stupidity and the unwillingness of human beings, mostly white human beings, to take responsibility for what they’ve created. What they have created is a goddamn mess!”

Cromwell, who recalled his own activism from the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam war movements of the 1960s to recent arrests while campaigning for animal rights issues (he became vegan while shooting the 1995 film “Babe”), said it was “deplorable” that heads of state and government had snubbed the UN meeting, called COP15.

By contrast, more than 120 leaders attended UN climate talks in Egypt in November.

“It’s tragic that it takes an actor to come up here to talk about issues,” he said, calling out French President Emmanuel Macron for choosing to fly to Qatar to watch the soccer World Cup instead of coming to the COP. “Have you no shame?”

Cromwell was invited to attend by outspoken nonprofit Avaaz,  which also gathered messages of support from other celebrities including Olivia Colman, Joaquin Phoenix and Jack Black.

“Once we raise awareness, we raise also the pressure and accountability of governments,” said Oscar Soria of Avaaz.

A deforested area of the Amazon rainforest seen during a flight between Manaus and Manicore, in Amazonas State, Brazil

The thorny issue of how much money wealthy countries are willing to pony up to protect the world’s remaining biodiversity took center stage Wednesday at UN talks in Montreal aimed at creating a “peace pact with nature.”

At stake is the future of the planet and whether humanity can roll back habitat destruction, pollution, and the climate crisis that are driving the sixth mass extinction of plant and animal species. 

Negotiators worked late into the night Tuesday, but “the atmosphere deteriorated when the group started discussing concepts, in particular the global biodiversity fund (GBF) proposal,” said UN spokesman David Ainsworth, leading to a walkout by developing nations.

The GBF is a new financial instrument sought by low-income nations to help them, for example, establish marine or terrestrial protected areas and implement biodiversity action plans.

A long pause in technical talks on other items appeared to be resolved after China, the chair, held an hours-long meeting of the heads of delegations Wednesday, though the finance issue isn’t yet settled.

“Our territories are home to most of the biological diversity of the world,” said a statement by Brazil, which added existing financing mechanisms were not up to the task.

Brazil, which also spoke on behalf of other developing countries, including the African Group, added that the new fund should provide $100 billion annually, or one percent of global GDP, until 2030. 

Financial flows from the Global North to South are currently estimated at around $10 billion annually.

Wealthy nations say they would rather reform existing financial mechanisms and leverage more private sector funding.

The deterioration in dialogue came on the eve of the high-level phase of negotiations involving the environment ministers of the 196 members at the Montreal summit, called COP15, which began on December 7 and is set to run to December 19.

“The walkout that happened last night is a signal of a pivotal moment in the negotiations that we needed,” Masha Kalinina of The Pew Charitable Trusts told AFP. 

“It draws important attention to this negotiation, especially as the leaders are arriving today and tomorrow we are waiting with bated breath.”

Innocent Maloba of WWF International added: “As the countries with the greatest roles in driving biodiversity loss… developed countries have a duty to support developing countries in the protection and conservation of the biodiversity that we all rely on.

“It is in their own self-interest.”

– ‘Have you no shame?’ –

There are more than 20 targets, including a cornerstone pledge to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and seas by 2030, eliminating harmful fishing and agriculture subsidies, and tackling invasive species and reducing pesticides.

Science shows that time is running out.

An estimated million species are threatened with extinction, a third of the world’s landmass is degraded, comprising the productivity of soil, while pollution and the climate crisis are destroying marine ecosystems.

But the summit has failed to garner the same level of attention as a UN climate summit held in Egypt in November, which brought together more than a hundred world leaders.

The meeting is being held in Canada but chaired by China, which declined to host because of its strict Covid rules.

The only world leader in attendance is Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Speaking at a press conference organized by the nonprofit Avaaz, Hollywood actor and activist James Cromwell singled out French President Emmanuel Macron in particular, for opting to visit Qatar to watch the soccer World Cup semifinal instead of coming to the COP.

“It’s tragic that it takes an actor to come up here to talk about issues,” he said. “Have you no shame?”

— Corrects Macron title in second last par to xx President xx —

A deforested area of the Amazon rainforest seen during a flight between Manaus and Manicore, in Amazonas State, Brazil

The thorny issue of how much money wealthy countries are willing to pony up to protect the world’s remaining biodiversity took center stage Wednesday at UN talks in Montreal aimed at creating a “peace pact with nature.” 

At stake is the future of the planet and whether humanity can roll back habitat destruction, pollution, and the climate crisis that are driving the sixth mass extinction of plant and animal species. 

Negotiators worked late into the night Tuesday, but “the atmosphere deteriorated when the group started discussing concepts, in particular the global biodiversity fund (GBF) proposal,” said UN spokesman David Ainsworth, leading to a walkout by developing nations.

The GBF is a new financial instrument sought by low-income nations to help them, for example, establish marine or terrestrial protected areas and implement biodiversity action plans.

A long pause in technical talks on other items appeared to be resolved after China, the chair, held an hours-long meeting of the heads of delegations Wednesday, though the finance issue isn’t yet settled.

“Our territories are home to most of the biological diversity of the world,” said a statement by Brazil, which added existing financing mechanisms were not up to the task.

Brazil, which also spoke on behalf of other developing countries, including the African Group, added that the new fund should provide $100 billion annually, or one percent of global GDP, until 2030. 

Financial flows from the Global North to South are currently estimated at around $10 billion annually.

Wealthy nations say they would rather reform existing financial mechanisms and leverage more private sector funding.

The deterioration in dialogue came on the eve of the high-level phase of negotiations involving the environment ministers of the 196 members at the Montreal summit, called COP15, which began on December 7 and is set to run to December 19.

“The walkout that happened last night is a signal of a pivotal moment in the negotiations that we needed,” Masha Kalinina of The Pew Charitable Trusts told AFP. 

“It draws important attention to this negotiation, especially as the leaders are arriving today and tomorrow we are waiting with bated breath.”

Innocent Maloba of WWF International added: “As the countries with the greatest roles in driving biodiversity loss… developed countries have a duty to support developing countries in the protection and conservation of the biodiversity that we all rely on.

“It is in their own self-interest.”

– ‘Have you no shame?’ –

There are more than 20 targets, including a cornerstone pledge to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and seas by 2030, eliminating harmful fishing and agriculture subsidies, and tackling invasive species and reducing pesticides.

Science shows that time is running out.

An estimated million species are threatened with extinction, a third of the world’s landmass is degraded, comprising the productivity of soil, while pollution and the climate crisis are destroying marine ecosystems.

But the summit has failed to garner the same level attention as a UN climate summit held in Egypt in November, which brought together more than a hundred world leaders.

The meeting is being held in Canada but chaired by China, which declined to host because of its strict Covid rules.

The only world leader in attendance is Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Speaking at a press conference organized by the nonprofit Avaaz, Hollywood actor and activist James Cromwell singled out French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron in particular, for opting to visit Qatar to watch the soccer World Cup semi final instead of coming to the COP.

“It’s tragic that it takes an actor to come up here to talk about issues,” he said. “Have you no shame?”