OPENING global negotiations on ‘a new deal for nature’ is on the agenda as thousands of government officials and stakeholders from around the world meet this month for the 14th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP14) of member nations of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Malaysia’s delegation is led by Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar. The more than 5,000 delegates are meeting from Nov 17-28 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, to take stock of progress against 17 soon-to-expire biodiversity goals set in Aichi, Japan in 2010, which the world pledged to achieve by 2020.
While not a lot of good news has been shared at the meeting (a few weeks ago, the World Wide Fund for Nature reported earth’s wildlife populations have declined 60 per cent since 1970), here’s an exception: some 15 per cent of our planet’s land area and inland water, and seven per cent of the global ocean now have protected area designation.
That’s more than 20 million km² of the earth’s surface area — roughly equal to the areas of Canada and China combined — and nearly 27 million km² of marine areas now protected, according to the Protected Areas Report 2018,ajoint undertaking of the UN Environment, World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the National Geographic Society.
According to IUCN, “A protected area is a clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values”.
And the increase since 2016 works out to 0.2 per cent in terrestrial area, 3.2 per cent in marine areas around the globe.
That’s an impressive accomplishment, not far short of the Aichi commitment of 17 per cent terrestrial and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas by 2020.
Critics — an abundant group — point out that many biologically important ecosystems around the world are not represented, and actual enforcement on the ground of protections accorded on paper is a source of concern in many places.
And as the report itself notes, “marine areas under national jurisdiction have significantly more protection (17 per cent) than Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, with only slightly over one per cent of protection”.
Interestingly, the report celebrates a ban on fishing in 1.1 million sq km (432,000 sq miles) at the Antarctic reserve—an effort to preserve over 16,000 species, including the Adelie penguin and Minke whale.
In Malaysia, protected area coverage has been estimated in recent years at 10.8 per cent terrestrial and 1.1 per cent marine.
At this week’s launch of the Protected Areas Report 2018, CBD Executive Secretary Christina Pasca-Palmer suggested to nations that many “low hanging mangoes” are available in this policy area over the next two years — enough to meet the Aichi set goals and report back within the 2020 time frame.
Of course, the designation of protected areas alone is not enough to halve the rate of biodiversity loss — arguably the most important Aichi target of all. We have fallen short, to the great concern of world experts.
As the Intergovernmental Platform on Science-Policy Advice on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) reported in March: “Biodiversity—the essential variety of life forms on Earth— continues to decline in every region of the world, significantly reducing nature’s capacity to contribute to people’s wellbeing. This alarming trend endangers economies, livelihoods, food security and the quality of life of people everywhere.”
So over the next two years, member nations will establish a replacement set of global biodiversity action goals and targets — a new deal for nature to be adopted at COP15 in China in 2020.
It is a challenge as important as it is formidable, given the rates of population growth and climate change underway.
The 14th meeting of CBD member nations in Egypt is the first one ever held in the Middle East.
That has put a spotlight on a critical issue: the role of biodiversity and ecosystems in countries affected by crisis and displacement — how biodiversity and ecosystems’ resilience also help achieve crisis prevention and recovery goals, thereby improving world security.
As a novice in the field of biodiversity diplomacy 30 years ago I was full of hope, a feeling that turned to anguish and frustration as a veteran realising that the world would miss many of its agreed 2010 targets.
Yet, as an optimist who subscribes to the power of global cooperation and coexistence, I feel revitalised by the work underway on the 2030 Development Agenda, the post-2020 New Deal for Nature, and the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity.
It has taken some time, but the world is coming to recognise the vital importance of these issues in virtually all economic sectors — energy and mining, infrastructure, and manufacturing and processing, as well as to human wellbeing in the form of raw materials, fresh water and protection against natural disasters.
There’s still light at the end of the tunnel.
Zakri Abdul Hamid the founding chair of IPBES, is one of the original members of the Malaysian delegation (led by Ambassador Datuk Ting Wen Lian) that negotiated the CBD from 1990 to 1992