W. John Kress, Curt Lindberg and Walter Poleman: It’s time to get serious about nature

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This review is by W. John Kress of Dorset, Curt Lindberg of Waitsfield, and Walter Poleman of Burlington. They are members of the Vermont Biodiversity Alliance.

16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological DiversityThe conference held in Cali, Colombia has ended. The two weeks were filled with plenary meetings, regional meetings, contact groups, chairpersons’ fellowships, summits, side events, focus groups, presentations, informal discussions and external protests.

The conference halls were packed with 23,000 participants representing more than 190 countries. It is refreshing that, despite all the political, economic and social turmoil going on around the world, the one thing on everyone’s mind at this conference is the planet’s biodiversity and how to preserve it. In simpler terms: life on Earth.

The three objectives of the Convention are the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of biological diversity, and equitable access and benefit sharing to biological diversity. To achieve these goals, the contract has set 23 basic targets. These are known as the global biodiversity framework and were established at the 15th Conference of the Parties.

These goals address plans for protected areas, habitat restoration, capacity building, invasive species, genetic resources, digital sequence information, business and finance, and the rights of Indigenous peoples, women, and youth. Of course, everyone has strong opinions and stances on everything. Following the adoption of these 23 goals at COP15 in Montreal in 2022, the parties met in Colombia this year to discuss progress and strategies to achieve these goals.

We Vermonters attended the first week of COP16 as observers representing the Vermont Biodiversity Alliance to see what it’s all about and bring our own state’s perspective and experience in protecting biodiversity to this international forum. What is alarming to many of us is that the United States has never actually ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity. Although it was signed years ago by President Bill Clinton, the U.S. Senate has yet to act.

This means that, as Americans, we are the only UN member nation without a seat at the negotiating table, and our voices can only be heard from the outside. It’s also a bit of a shame that our national government has more or less ignored this critical global forum (the US State Department was represented, but not as an official party to the negotiations).

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with Klara Bauters
21 October 2024, 18:4520 November 2024 10:46

One of the things we came to Cali to decide was whether we needed an active statewide coalition so that Vermont could have a stronger voice in the Convention on Biological Diversity. The clear answer to this proposition is YES.

Everyone we talked to in Cali from around the world was interested in what we were doing, especially in Vermont. Bill 59 (Community Resilience and Biodiversity Conservation Act) This mandates that 30 percent of the state’s land be protected by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050.

Although “30×30” is the primary goal of the international framework, thanks to our state representatives, many Vermont conservation organizations, the Natural Resources Agency, and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, Vermont is leading the way in achieving this goal. .

Equally important, in Cali we met American citizens from other states who were committed to preserving biodiversity. The delegation from California included state representatives such as the secretary of the natural resources agency, non-governmental organizations, academics and private conservation groups, forming a coalition similar to the Vermont Biodiversity Alliance. We also met and exchanged ideas on the Convention on Biological Diversity with an alliance from San Francisco and a sub-national delegation from Quebec, Vermont’s northern neighbor.

It was extremely encouraging to meet with fellow COP16 participants and discuss how state, regional and local organizations can improve biodiversity conservation in the absence of leadership at the federal level. The importance of such subnational efforts to protect biodiversity was highlighted as vital to success at COP16. Such efforts are becoming more important in this country. last presidential election results.

International issues surrounding nature conservation are complex but not insurmountable. Our collective efforts could not come at a more important time, as biodiversity is rapidly declining across the world, causing cascading detrimental effects on human health and well-being.

Even though we’re a small state, Vermont has a lot to contribute, and we’re committed to making an impact. We encourage all Vermonters to participate in biodiversity conservation and especially to support the implementation of Act 59 in our state.