Not only has Lula experienced COP 27 in recent days. While the negotiations are proceeding at a slow pace in the closed chambers of the Climate Conference, with only one day officially left for the meeting to end, other parallel issues are still on the agenda.
This Thursday (17), entitled Biodiversity Day, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), together with the German government, launched the ENACT initiative, which aims to protect 45 million hectares, the guarantee sustainable management of two billion hectares. hectares and restoring 350 million hectares of ecosystems around the world.
The initiative, called the “Paris Agreement” on biodiversity, seeks shared solutions and defined pathways to intensify actions that unite the climate change and biodiversity agendas.
“Biodiversity on our planet is at the heart of people’s economic, social and cultural well-being, but climate change is accelerating the loss of biodiversity around the world. The rapid destruction of ecosystems increases our vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. We cannot address biodiversity loss without increasing our implementation of climate solutions. They are not mutually exclusive. Through initiatives such as ENACT, the Egyptian presidency of COP 27 will promote the integration of well-coordinated nature-based solutions on a global scale that are as urgent as our response to climate change,” said COP 27 President SE Sameh Shoukry, on the occasion of launching the initiative this Thursday.
ENACT also aims to improve the protection and resilience to climate impacts of at least 1 billion vulnerable people, including at least 500 million women and girls.
ENACT’s focus areas are: Food Security and Land Productivity; Adaptation and disaster risk reduction; Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economy; Urban resilience; Green Gray Infrastructure, national and sub-national targets and mitigation strategies; mobilizing private investment in nature-based solutions and health, climate and nature-based solutions.
Throughout the day, government ministers and scientists were also gathered to discuss the role of conservation, restoration and management of ecosystems in the conservation of stocks and carbon sequestration.
Corals under the spotlight
Coral reefs also had space in the parallel discussions at COP 27. Direct food provider for more than 500 million people worldwide and in places of rich biodiversity, reefs are one of the ecosystems most threatened by climate change, and are their only possibility of survival until limiting the global average temperature well below 2°C.
Since COP 27 is being held in the resort of Sharm El Sheikh, famous for its coral reefs, these ecosystems have taken on special significance in the discussions. Red Sea corals are among the last survivors of the 21st century. Last week, the United States, through USAID, UNDP and the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, launched the Red Sea Initiative aimed at conserving them. .
New pollutant sources
In 48 of the 55 African countries, oil, gas and coal companies are exploring or developing new fossil reserves and building new fossil infrastructure. European companies in particular are investing disproportionately in gas infrastructure in Africa, according to a new report. “Who is funding the expansion of fossil fuels in Africa?”, carried out by 33 African NGOs in collaboration with the organizations Urgewald, Stop EACOP, Oilwatch Africa and the Africa Coal Network. The document was released on Thursday.
Negotiations
While the negotiations stalled on many of the money issues, a clear result of this COP 27 is that developing countries came out with a much stronger voice and took it into their own hands to catalyze climate finance to take urgent short-term action. .
What will concretely come out of the Conference is still unknown, as no final document has been presented and the discussions should extend into the early hours of Friday and the whole day of Saturday. The deadline for ending reservations was tomorrow.