The COP15 summit on the Publish-2020 Biodiversity Framework, on account of be held at Kunming in China throughout April and Might, will now be held in August as an alternative, New Scientist understands

By Adam Vaughan

A crunch United Nations summit to agree a brand new international deal to arrest declining biodiversity and the destruction of nature will quickly be postponed for a fourth time, New Scientist understands.

A senior UN supply mentioned that the COP15 convention, which was on account of be held at Kunming in China throughout April and Might, will now begin on the finish of August as an alternative. Previous delays have been blamed on the covid-19 pandemic, regardless of comparable main conferences on local weather change going forward.

The newest postponement implies that COP15 will now happen virtually two years later than initially scheduled, and leaves the world with out targets for stemming extinctions and stopping habitat losses this decade. An official announcement hasn’t but been made, however is predicted when negotiations resume in Geneva, Switzerland, on 14 March.

A spokesperson for the secretariat of the Conference on Organic Variety, the UN physique behind the COP15 summit, instructed New Scientist: “The COP [conference of the parties] bureau, at its final assembly, mentioned that the UN Biodiversity Convention might be moved to the third quarter. Nevertheless, the official resolution on this has not but been taken.”

One of many key elements of the deal being negotiated, generally known as the Publish-2020 Biodiversity Framework, is a aim to make 30 per cent of Earth’s land and seas into protected areas by 2030. Different points embrace the ecological integrity of these areas and the agricultural subsidies which can be a key driver of biodiversity loss.

Whereas conservationists and economists regard a brand new international biodiversity deal as important, the world has a poor observe file on this space. Not one of the 20 targets that governments set in 2010 for 2020, together with halving the speed at which pure habitats are being misplaced, have been totally met. The UK authorities final 12 months paused publishing new information monitoring the state of the nation’s wildlife and ecosystems.

Sue Lieberman on the Wildlife Conservation Society, a US-based non-profit organisation, says: “Although it’s unlucky that the COP in Kunming gained’t happen till late August, we agree with many governments that such negotiations can’t happen productively by means of digital means, and that governments and different stakeholders want to fulfill in particular person. Hopefully, the postponement will give governments enough time to undertake a robust, significant International Biodiversity Framework.”