Still no major progress toward 'peace pact with nature' at COP15 | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
June 13, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2025
Still no major progress toward 'peace pact with nature' at COP15

World+Biz

BSS/AFP
13 December, 2022, 12:05 pm
Last modified: 13 December, 2022, 12:06 pm

Related News

  • Are Ghoria, Chandrabati rivers in Bogura really 'missing'?
  • A dash of nature, ingenuity and community: The story behind Noakhali’s ‘Food Forest’
  • Over 3,000 trees felled, yet Biyanibazar's Tk40 billion highway project faces uncertainty
  • When nature teaches how to farm. And conserve diversity
  • Climate experts call for joint action on land, water, and food security

Still no major progress toward 'peace pact with nature' at COP15

BSS/AFP
13 December, 2022, 12:05 pm
Last modified: 13 December, 2022, 12:06 pm
People take part in a march during COP15, the two-week U.N. Biodiversity summit in Montreal, Quebec, Canada December 10, 2022. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi
People take part in a march during COP15, the two-week U.N. Biodiversity summit in Montreal, Quebec, Canada December 10, 2022. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi

The world had just eight days to seal a historic deal to stem the destruction of nature.

But half way into the COP15 biodiversity talks, there has been no major progress either on increased funding for conservation in developing nations, or towards a pledge to protect 30 percent of the world's land and seas.

The general view is that negotiations will get tough on Thursday, when the environment ministers of the 196 members of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will take over from their delegates in Montreal.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

But the chances of ending on December 19 with agreement for an ambitious "peace pact with nature" -- 20 objectives to stop the destruction of water, forests and living things by the end of the decade -- will be undermined if the draft agreement remains as it is now.

Despite long hours put in by the 5,000 delegates since December 3, the text is far behind schedule, weighed down by dozens of points still under negotiation.

Only five of the 22 or 23 objectives envisaged have been settled.

"Governments are making progress, but not fast enough to prepare a clean text for the arrival of ministers," said Alfred DeGemmis, a senior official at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Time is running out: a million species are threatened with extinction, a third of all land is severely degraded, soil fertility and water purity are compromised, and oceans are threatened by pollution and climate change.

"We are still a long way away. But we are seeing flashes of light at the end of the tunnel," said Marco Lambertini, the head of WWF international, adding that he had observed a "much more constructive engagement" since the start of the talks.

"We see a market emerging where the countries of the South say that they will not agree to commit to strong ambitions without seeing corresponding funding," said Sebastien Treyer, director general of the think tank IDDRI.

Brazil on Saturday reiterated, on behalf of the African continent and 14 other countries including India and Indonesia, their demand for "financial subsidies of at least $100 billion per year or one percent of world GDP until 2030."

Global Biodiversity Fund 

That increase is deemed unrealistic by rich countries, whose aid earmarked for biodiversity in 2020 amounted to $10 billion.

"If today we are at 10 billion, talking about 100 billion all of a sudden paralyzes the conversation," warned the French envoy to COP15, Sylvie Lemmet, since rich countries have kept to their commitment to double aid development over the previous decade.

The European Union also opposes creation of a new global biodiversity fund, something being called for by several countries at the COP16 in 2024 in Turkey.

That is a solution which the North deems ineffective, preferring instead to push for a reform of global finance, both in the public and private sectors, and a better use of national resources.

They have also argued for the reduction of negative subsidies that adversely affect nature, such as fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture, something which has been the subject of lively debates with farming powerhouses Brazil and Argentina.

While not part of the negotiation, the United States -- which has not ratified the Convention on Biodiversity -- plays a crucial role in the financial equation likely to unblock any agreement.

"We did replenish the Global Environment Facility this year, the US contribution was bigger than it had ever been," US environment ambassador Monica Medina said Monday.

Looking to remove obstacles, all eyes have turned toward China, which is president of the COP15, but which is considered to be too "wait-and-see" or "passive" by many here.

That criticism was brushed aside by the French ambassador, who lauded a "very involved Chinese presidency" that is "listening to the parties" and which "commits bilaterally."

On Monday, negotiators resumed talks behind closed doors.

"The progress is encouraging"," CBD chief Elizabeth Mrema said, but warned that negotiations remain "a bumpy road."

COP15 / Climate / Nature

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Infographics: TBS
    Lengthy legal road ahead to repatriate Saifuzzaman's wealth from UK
  • From fact-checker to fact-checked: CA Press Wing’s turn in the hot seat
    From fact-checker to fact-checked: CA Press Wing’s turn in the hot seat
  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290

MOST VIEWED

  • Keir Starmer declines to meet CA Yunus: FT report
    Keir Starmer declines to meet CA Yunus: FT report
  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290
  • Saifuzzaman Chowdhury. Photo: Collected
    UK crime agency now freezes assets of ex-land minister Saifuzzaman: AJ
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Infofgraphics: TBS
    DGHS issues 11-point directive to prevent spread of Covid-19 in Bangladesh
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh mulls settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: BB governor tells FT

Related News

  • Are Ghoria, Chandrabati rivers in Bogura really 'missing'?
  • A dash of nature, ingenuity and community: The story behind Noakhali’s ‘Food Forest’
  • Over 3,000 trees felled, yet Biyanibazar's Tk40 billion highway project faces uncertainty
  • When nature teaches how to farm. And conserve diversity
  • Climate experts call for joint action on land, water, and food security

Features

Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

1d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

2d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

3d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

5d | Bangladesh

More Videos from TBS

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

6h | Podcast
What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

8h | TBS World
Govt to set up Debt Office as loan burden to hit Tk29 lakh cr by FY28

Govt to set up Debt Office as loan burden to hit Tk29 lakh cr by FY28

8h | TBS Insight
Curfew imposed for second night in Los Angeles

Curfew imposed for second night in Los Angeles

9h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net