COP15: the objective of protecting 30% of the planet retained in the draft agreement

The project of China, president of COP15, was eagerly awaited.

The objective of protecting 30% of the planet was retained by the Chinese presidency in the compromise it submitted to the negotiators this Sunday.

The negotiators of the members - 195 countries plus the European Union - of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) must approve by Monday, on the basis of this text, a "pact of peace with nature" whose planet has sorely needed.

In an attempt to resolve the ever-burning financial issue between North and South, China proposes reaching "at least $20 billion" in annual international aid for biodiversity by 2025 and "at least $30 billion by 2030,” according to the draft agreement.

The developing countries, led by Brazil, India and Indonesia, demanded an increase to 100 billion dollars a year in the aid paid by the rich countries for the protection of nature, currently estimated at between 7 and 10 billion euros.

The countries of the South are also strongly pushing for the creation of a new separate global fund dedicated to biodiversity, like the one obtained in November at COP27 in Egypt to help them deal with climate damage.

A “sustainable” use of resources in protected areas

On this point, China is proposing a compromise: to establish a branch dedicated to biodiversity within the current Global Environment Facility (GEF) from 2023, the current functioning of which is considered deficient by the least developed countries.

The resolution of the financial controversy between North and South calls for the adoption of an ambitious pact for nature, ardently demanded by defenders of the environment and indigenous peoples.

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In the draft agreement, China retains the proposal to place at least 30% of the land and seas under a minimum level of protection, while admitting within the protected areas a “sustainable” use of resources.

This objective, a minimum for scientists who argue for at least 50% protection of the planet, has been presented as the biodiversity equivalent of the Paris objective of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

To date, 17% of the land and 8% of the seas are protected.