6 The wolf shall live with the lamb;
the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the lion will feed[b] together,
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
9 They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 11: NRSVue
Biodiversity Cop16: Important Agreement Reached Toward Goal of "Making Peace with Nature"
Cop16 ends in disarray and indecision despite biodiversity breakthroughs
The United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Columbia came to a close over the weekend and who knows what the outcome really was. During the nearly two week event there was little media attention given to this essential gathering. There were probably more reports about stealing and eating pets and geese in Ohio -- does that count as biodiversity?
The headlines in summation were confusing as well. The organizers declared it a success and offered this:
The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16) was suspended in the morning of Nov. 2 but not before countries agreed on an expanded role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in saving biodiversity and a groundbreaking agreement on the operationalization of a new global mechanism to share benefits from digital genetic information.
“Over the last weeks, we have seen the largest, whole-of-society mobilization for biodiversity unfold in Cali, triggering interest from around the globe. We have seen Indigenous Peoples and local communities, civil society, businesses and financial institutions, sub-national governments, cities and local authorities, women and youth present remarkable initiatives and action.
And through it all, this COP delivered a seminal message: the time has come to make peace with nature. “From Cali, this UN Biodiversity Conference sent a powerful call to action. It has never been clearer that the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement in a synergistic fashion will make peace with nature within reach."
Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity
This sounds hopeful to me but a piece in The Guardian gave a very different impression:
Observers said that despite the agreements, Cop16 fell short of what was needed to halt the crisis in the natural world, warning that many governments and UN officials were not acting with the required urgency. They pointed to a lack of leadership from the EU, China, Canada and others who had played a leading role in helping to reach agreements on this decade’s targets just two years ago.
During the summit, it became clear that many countries were making weak or no progress on crucial aims such as reforming environmentally harmful subsidies, protected areas and even submitting national plans for meeting the targets.
“We saw insufficient leadership from the wealthier countries, the European Union and France in particular, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, the UK, but also China. The executive secretary of the UN convention on biodiversity was also quite phantomatic,” said Oscar Soria, director of thinktank the Common Initiative.
Brian O’Donnell, director of the Campaign for Nature, said too many countries and UN officials came to Cali without the urgency and level of ambition needed. “The world doesn’t have time for business as usual,” he said. “The suspension of the Cop without any agreed-upon finance strategy is alarming.”
I read all this as "we've talked a lot and came to some aspirational conclusions (once again) but rich countries aren't prepared to put their money where their mouths are." This is disappointing but as Christians we must be committed to making peace with nature, or Creation, as we also call our wonderful, awe-inspiring, biodiverse planetary home.
You may have noticed that as the elephants and donkeys sparred with one another during this US election campaign there was almost no discussion of climate change or biodiversity loss. The United States will have to be a key participant in any progress toward making peace with Turtle Island...is anyone stealing turtles? God, the Creator and Redeemer, help us all.
MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC PARTICIPATE IN A CEREMONY TO HONOUR THE NATURAL WORLD IN THE “GREEN ZONE” OF COP16. MOLLY ROBSON / GLOBAL WITNESS
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