“It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered. The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness. Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna . . . things that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind. It filled me with dread. My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral.”
– William Shatner, reflecting on his trip aboard the Blue Origin space shuttle in 2021
“Peace with Nature” is the theme of the UN COP16 biodiversity summit, which began in Colombia this week. https://www.cop16colombia.com/es/en/
To understand better what is taking place at the summit, and what is at stake, read about the history of the UN biodiversity conferences and take a look at what is at its heart: the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which includes the summit’s goals and 23 targets. https://tinyurl.com/COP16-biodiversity
And here is Canada’s plan to achieve its biodiversity goals: https://tinyurl.com/Canada-commitment
WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) has reviewed the world’s National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans and has revealed that the majority of countries are not fully honouring their commitments to halt and reverse Nature loss by 2030. In fact, only 10% of countries have submitted their updated plans for Nature. WWF has put out a tracker to show the current tangible action plans of individual nations to protect Nature. Which countries are doing best? Find out at https://tinyurl.com/WWF-Nature-tracker
Unlike the annual UN climate change conference, the biodiversity summit only takes place every two years. Few heads of government attend it, and many thousand fewer people come than to the extravaganzas that are the climate change COPs, with all their slick negotiating groups and lobbyists (who often outnumber individual nation states’ delegates). It is utterly disgraceful that the United States hasn’t even ratified the GBF and essentially remains silent throughout the two weeks.
There have never been binding resolutions to lower carbon emissions, and nor have the biodiversity conferences conjured up real wins for Nature, although the December 2022 Montreal summit broke through some of the entrenched anti-Nature propaganda to move forward on giving Indigenous and global south voices a more powerful presence and voice. However, the lion’s share of financial benefits, including the possession and monetizing of digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources, still goes to the global north, when it is all too obvious that the southern hemisphere’s intact biosphere is what props up and feeds the massive extractive and consumeristic way of life of Canadians and Americans.
The goals of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity include DSI justice, halting human-induced extinction of threatened species and reducing the rate of extinction of all species tenfold by 2050, the sustainable use and management of biodiversity to ensure that Nature’s contributions to humans are valued, maintained and enhanced, and that adequate means of implementing the GBF be accessible to all parties, particularly least developed countries and small island developing states.
Not very long ago it was thought that plutocracies in the global north could pontificate with impunity on matters of carbon, fossil fuels, energy and economic success stories, and at the same time eke out some sort of ceasefire and even placate climate/biodiversity scientists and activists with false promises, without mentioning the real-in-your-face collapse of Nature, while the entreaties of the global south were barely noticeable. This greenwashing on the part of the fossil fuel industries is hardly in practice now because a new no-holds-barred acceleration of the oil/gas agenda has taken over. Empowered and emboldened by right-wing governments, they just don’t care what the scientific evidence presents.
This attitude reflects the Cartesian mind/body split that has caused over the centuries such suffering throughout the ecological world and beyond. The health of the Earth’s living body can’t be a separate issue from any other activity we might pursue. If governments truly wanted the biodiversity crisis to disappear, the biodiversity conference would have had equal status almost 30 years ago to the climate one, instead of being its poor cousin.
For many governments, including the general public, climate is a problem that until recently could be endlessly put off and therefore appeared more theoretical in nature. The climate summit has always had conflicting information showcased, and in many instances belligerent actors have torn down the case for immediate fossil fuel reductions that would give way to an overwhelming push for renewable energy and a lowering of carbon emissions. Now we know that an expanded and massive renewable infrastructure only enhances oil/gas production and gives more electricity to a spiralling artificial intelligence industry expansion, and at the same time emissions still rise to accommodate the insatiable greed of the global economy and technology.
The crucial matter of biosphere integrity is what any rational discussion should start with. There ain’t anything hypothetical about it. We either protect (and hopefully love) the Earth, or we destroy ourselves. That sentiment is hard to inculcate into classrooms when universities like Bishop’s are practically moribund when it comes to giving the general student population, and not just an elite few, the skills and the passion that would change the present curriculum apathy and turn around the overwhelming grief expressed by many students that accompanies the planetary crisis. The University of California at San Diego has made the right decision. Beginning in autumn 2024, all incoming students are required to take a class on climate change in order to graduate. https://tinyurl.com/courses-on-climate
Susana Muhamad, the president of COP16 Colombia, who quit working for Shell years ago, had this to say about the goals of the conference: “The added value of holding COP16 in Colombia lies in our vision of ‘Peace with Nature’ and in recognizing that the real struggle of the 21st century is for life. If we succeed in transforming our relationship with Nature, as well as our production and consumption practices, and get collective actions to promote life instead of destroying it, we will be addressing the most important challenges of our time.”
As you will see, several world gatherings are taking place over the next two months. I will be writing about each of them. The first is COP16 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Cali, Colombia fromOctober 21 to November 1 (also referred to as the Nature COP). This will be followed by COP29 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Baku, Azerbaijan from November 11 to 22 (also referred to as the climate COP), and COP16 of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from
December 2 to 13 (also referred to as the desertification COP).
If you find these large UN conferences daunting, you might be heartened by the existence of groups such as the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network International (WECAN), who will be present at COP16 in Colombia to champion the Rights of Nature. https://www.wecaninternational.org
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring is a masterpiece that brings out all the interwoven magical world of Nature, but—even better—the oldest all-star band in existence is hitting the airwaves and raising millions to be spent on rejuvenating our biosphere. The name of the band is Nature. Nature is officially an artist! Listen to her music! https://www.soundsright.earth