COP15 UN biodiversity summit, Montreal: Nations reach 'historic' deal, key highlights

China is the president of COP15 and is also the host for the biodiversity summit that has been relocated to Canada in Montreal due to the pandemic situation within China.

Various targets for ecosystem protection and biodiversity sustenance were discussed, like wetlands, rainforests, and the rights of indigenous people.

The summit is being held in Montreal, Canada, due to Covid problems in China, and the COP15 UN biodiversity meeting was able to hammer out an agreement on Monday morning.


The Democratic Republic of Congo had an issue with the agreement, which they voiced at the last minute, but China, who is conducting the discussion and is in charge, sealed the deal as a joint agreement.

The salient points of the discussion are given below:

Maintaining the ecosystems and enhancing the longevity of others on the verge of extinction, including stopping the species from becoming extinct and maintaining biodiversity.
The objective is to retain biodiversity and ensure that they are sustainably used for the benefit of humanity to provide food and potable water.
Sharing the medicines and other resources from plants with all stakeholders fairly and equitably and protecting the rights of indigenous people.
Reinvesting money and resources for biodiversity and ensuring they reach the correct intended points.

The summit in Montreal was declared the "last chance" to help sustain biodiversity and the natural ecosystem. That nature's environment needs to be healed has been recognised, and a decision has been reached to help it recover from its current path of doom. There were disagreements galore during the meeting regarding finances, member nations' commitment, and their intentions to help the planet.

The major contention was over how funds would be allocated to sustain biodiversity in some of the most vulnerable parts of the earth that are home to some of the most outstanding biodiversities.

Biodiversity means the interweaving of all the living things on earth that interact and interdepend for their coexistence in the web of life.
The new text of the meeting's agreement was released by China in the early hours of Monday, after a lot of delay on how the text would be written.

Ultimately the Democratic Republic of Congo didn't agree to the deal, but the President of COP15, Minister Huang Runqui, banged the gavel and sealed the agreement.

Georgina Chandler of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds thanked the COP15 members for agreeing and hoped humanity and nature would be better off. She said that it is now in the hands of the governments, the corporates, and communities to implement the decision of the body and make it a reality.

Sue Lieberman, though believes that the agreement was a compromise. Though it had some excellent elements, the deal could have been more in-depth to ensure that nature and humans coexisted fairly and efforts were made to stop the destruction of ecosystems, habitats, and species.

The agreement was signed after days of negotiations, and most ministers made speeches to conclude that they would have to put nature on the path to recovery within the next ten years. Virginijus Sinkevicius, the EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans, and Fisheries, likened nature to a ship that must stay afloat.

Colombia's environment minister, Susana Muhamed's suggestion that nature doesn't have boundaries and hence needs ambition in protection for the good of all concerned, invoked tremendous applause.

Scientists have already been warning the people on earth that the planet is being pushed into destruction due to excessive pollution. This includes various animal and human diseases like SARS-Cov-2, Ebola, and HIV.

Money is the main issue, and countries cannot agree on how the funds should be set up. During COP27 in Egypt, for instance, the same problem persisted, with many countries asking for a separate fund for biodiversity, which others have rejected.

FAQs:

1. Name the top 5 polluters in the world?
   China, USA, India, Russia, Japan.
2. Name the 2 most polluted cities?
   Delhi, and Kolkata (Both in India).