The two week Summit kicks off in Montreal today and is the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) bringing together representatives of all 196 parties with agreement on the Global Biodiversity Framework to be top of the agenda.
Environment minister Tanya Plibersek said “this conference for nature in Montreal could be what Paris was for climate” and has called on Australia to take a leadership role at the global summit.
In recent months the Australian government has joined over 100 countries in committing to protecting 30% of nature by 2030, which for Australia will mean over 70 million additional hectares converted into the conservation estate and present an audacious and necessary challenge.
This commitment forms part of the Global Biodiversity Framework and will be a key topic of discussion during this event and is a target Wilderlands has embraced as it works to make protecting biodiversity accessible for all.
Wilderlands CEO Ash Knop said the decision for the startup to have physical representation at the Conference was driven by the magnitude of the moment and how important it is to be finding ways to collaborate as we tackle this global biodiversity loss crisis and recognising how critical relationships are to making that happen.
“History will look back on this moment and measure the success of this Summit by how it reshaped the global response to nature and we wanted to ensure we were on the front line of that change.”
Ash Knop
“There’s been a lot of discussion drawing parallels between this moment in Montreal and the impact of the meeting in Paris and it gives me great hope that this can be the spark to create a similar movement and galvanise governments, corporates, and every day consumers to work together to prioritise protecting the planet and move towards action.”
Ash Knop
COP15 will aim to agree on global targets to ensure the future survival of species and halt the collapse of ecosystems across the world with many scientists agreeing that biodiversity is at a tipping point, and decisions made now at COP15 will be crucial to collectively conserve the natural world into the future.
The Global Biodiversity Framework is set to be agreed at COP15. The Framework comprises 21 targets and 10 ‘milestones’ proposed for 2030. The objective of the Framework is to be ‘living in harmony with nature’ by 2050.
The Summit is also expected to see much discussion around the Taskforce for Nature-Related Disclosures (TNFD) and the impact this will have on business with reports showing that over half of the world’s economic production – a value of $44 trillion – is moderately or heavily dependent on nature.
At present Biodiversity loss is ranked amongst the three biggest threats facing humanity and we are seeing species become extinct at a time not seen since the last great extinction – statistics that have unsurprisingly seen a growing eco-anxiety spreading in society with over 60% of people concerned about the state of the world.
Wilderlands aims to provide a simple and accessible way for people and partners passionate about protecting nature to be able to start today; preserving our most precious biodiversity one square metre at a time.
Find out more: www.wilderlands.earth
