The meeting did not reach an agreement on the international rules or funding of nature measures. The agreement was born out of compensations to be paid for genetic information and the representation of indigenous peoples.
16:04•Updated 16:26
The UN COP16 nature conference in Colombia has ended. A large part of the important questions remained completely unresolved, The Finnish Ministry of the Environment says.
The meeting could not decide on which rules the countries will use to report their nature goals or how the fight against nature loss will be financed.
The meeting was still able to agree on two issues.
An agreement was reached on compensation for genetic information found in nature by establishing an international genetic resource fund. It pays compensation to the communities from whose territory the digitally sequenced genetic data used by the companies originates. It is about billions of euros.
In addition, the meeting decided that the indigenous peoples will have permanent representation in nature meetings in the future.
Mykkänen: Disappointing
Minister of the Environment and Climate Kai Mykkänen (collective), the founding of the genetic fund was a historic achievement. Otherwise, he is not satisfied with the results.
– Still, the end result is disappointing, because the rulebook for the implementation of the nature goals was left in a secondary role. Our goal of strong rules for the implementation of nature goals was not achieved, says Mykkänen, according to a press release from the Ministry of the Environment.
The goal of the EU and Finland was to obtain from the meeting comprehensive rules for how countries monitor and report on their nature activities.
The developing countries, on the other hand, wanted to establish a new fund that would have financed their nature measures. Neither the EU nor Finland supported this.
During the negotiations, the questions became intertwined, and no agreement was reached. Both the follow-up and funding issues remained completely unresolved.
The meeting was supposed to end on Friday, but it was extended to Saturday morning local time. In the end, the negotiators had to leave for home, when it was no longer possible to make decisions, the Ministry of the Environment says.
The goal is to stop the loss of nature
196 countries participated in the UN Nature Conference in Cali, Colombia. Minister Kai Mykkänen led the Finnish delegation.
The nature meeting was a continuation of the 2022 COP15 meeting.
At that time, it was agreed, among other things, that by 2030 the states will protect 30 percent of their land and sea areas, restore 30 percent of their ecosystems, reduce pollution and phase out agricultural and business subsidies that destroy nature.
The purpose is to stop the deterioration of biodiversity, i.e. the loss of nature. Along with climate change, it threatens the future of humanity and threatens to drive countless species to extinction.
Sámi parliamentarians are satisfied with the representation of indigenous peoples
Chairman of the Sámi assemblies Pirita Näkkäläjärvi considers the decision of the UN Nature Assembly to create permanent representation for indigenous peoples in future meetings as downright historic.
Näkkäläjärvi told STT that he believes that the indigenous peoples have a lot to contribute in solving the problems related to nature loss and climate change.
Sources: AFP, Reuters, STT