For the business sector, there are reasons to celebrate, but the ability to implement the agreement will still depend on new definitions.
The UN Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) in Montreal, Canada, came to an end in the early hours of Monday (19) with the publication of the new Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which was agreed upon by almost 200 countries participating in the meeting. For CEBDS (Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development), the document, which has been considered by experts as being equivalent in importance to the Paris Agreement, but with a focus on biodiversity, exceeded expected expectations. Its implementation, however, will depend on new definitions.
Present at the event since its beginning, on December 7th, CEBDS defended important points for the business sector during the conference, after all, the version of the new framework that was discussed includes at least 12 goals directly connected to business. For the executive director, Ricardo Mastroti, some of them showed progress. One of the main ones is goal 15, which deals with the disclosure of impacts and dependencies on biodiversity by companies and financial institutions, especially large and transnational ones.
“At this point, the final text does not include mandatory reporting by companies, but it does determine that they must prepare to start producing this type of document. We consider this to be a factor of fundamental importance, after all, more than half of the world's economic production (US$44 trillion per year) is moderately or highly dependent on nature,” he says.
Two other important targets for the business sector are 18 and 19, which deal with redirecting or eliminating incentives that are harmful to biodiversity, by at least US$$ 500 billion per year; and increasing financial resources to at least US$$ 200 billion per year, to support actions to protect biodiversity.
“The total annual amounts for targets 18 and 19 were maintained and are sufficient to cover the estimated gap of US$1.4 billion. However, the portion of the amount for target 19 dedicated to investment in developing countries was only US$1.4 billion, an amount that fell short of what was expected by countries in the global south,” says CEBDS technical manager Henrique Luz.
Another important point discussed during the UN Conference was the so-called “30×30” target, which proposes protecting 30% of Earth’s natural habitats by 2030 (target 3) and restoring 30% of degraded areas by the same deadline (target 2). Considering that currently only 17% of land and 8% of oceans are protected, this target represents a step forward in favor of nature.
“We were at COP15 representing the productive sector, which understands the importance of defending goals that favor biodiversity. The results were generally positive, but they encourage us to continue our work, encouraging businesses to generate positive impacts on nature. Companies want to promote, in the short term, a new development model based on a green economy that generates jobs and income in a sustainable way,” concludes Mastroti.
