ISLAMABAD (National Times) – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has hailed an agreement signed by more than 190 nations at COP15 UN Biodiversity Summit in Montreal to reverse decades of environmental destruction endangering the world’s species and ecosystems.
The countries adopted four goals, 23 targets for 2030 in the landmark UN Biodiversity accord, with China holding the COP15 presidency.
Taking to Twitter, PM Shehbaz wrote: “The Agreement to protect a third of the planet by 2030 reached at COP15 UN Biodiversity Summit is truly nothing short of being historic”.
“Protecting our biodiversity is key to putting nature on a path to recovery. It reflects humanity s collective resolve to protect Mother Earth,” he added.
WHAT’S IN THE DEAL
The deal pledges to secure 30 per cent of the planet as a protected zone by 2030, stump up $30 billion in yearly conservation aid for the developing world and halt human-caused extinctions of threatened species.
Environmentalists have compared it to the landmark plan to limit global warming to 1.5C under the Paris agreement, though some warned that it did not go far enough.
The deal also directs countries to allocate $200 billion per year for biodiversity initiatives from both public and private sectors.Developed countries will provide $25 billion in annual funding starting in 2025 and $30 billion per year by 2030.
The deal contains quantifiable targets — such as reducing harmful subsidies given to industry by at least $500 billion per year — that should make it easier to track and report progress.
More than 1 million species could vanish by the century’s end in what scientists have called a sixth mass-extinction event. As much as 40% of the world’s land has been degraded, and wildlife population sizes have shrunk dramatically since 1970.
