MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th December, 2022) The United Nations on Monday adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which is a landmark climate document aimed at curbing the decline in wildlife populations and ecosystems, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
"The latest example of our work for solutions is the new Global Biodiversity Framework agreed in Montreal this morning. We are finally starting to forge a peace pact with nature," Guterres said, as quoted by the Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.
The landmark deal consists of 23 action-oriented global targets for urgent action over the decade to 2030 and four long-term goals for 2050, as follows from the final document published by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
According to the framework, the main goals that humanity should reach include maintaining, enhancing and restoring ecosystems, including halting species extinction and maintaining genetic diversity, ensuring that species and habitats can provide the services they provide for humanity, such as food and clean water, ensuring resources from nature, such as medicines from plants, are shared fairly, and putting resources into biodiversity so that money and conservation efforts get to where they are needed.
Later in the day, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment compared the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework with the Paris Agreement - one of the milestone global deals to fight climate change.
"We just sealed the deal on a new Global Biodiversity Framework at COP15. This is our Paris moment #ForNature - a historical day that will give us the chance to keep our (planet) livable for generations to come," the directorate wrote on twitter.
The Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015 following the 21st Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris. With 193 signatories to date, it marks the first global effort in history to coordinate fight against climate change.
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) focusing on the adoption of a new global biodiversity framework was hosted by Canada from December 7-19, in the city of Montreal. The creation of the new agreement was supported by 196 member states of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, including Russia.
