25
Nov
2024
Watch
Outcome of the UN Biodiversity Conference 2024 in Cali, Colombia (COP16) (debate)
Madam President, I would like to thank you for your Commissioner Schinas opened this debate by expressing his enthusiasm for the outcome in Cali. I don't share that enthusiasm. I believe that the result was disappointing and that, unfortunately, the European Union contributed to that disappointment. The necessary promised funding from the rich countries was not enough. Very many countries, including many EU countries, had not made the strategies and plans on which the work is based. At the start of the negotiations in Cali, the European Commission announced the postponement of legislation on deforestation, which is so important for both climate and biodiversity. It takes more than that if the EU is to be a driving force in trying to counter the serious crisis we have for biodiversity and the widespread global extinction of species. There were some good things happening in Cali, too. There, decisions were made on new forms to give indigenous peoples and local communities influence over politics. Very welcome, but for that we must thank the Colombian Presidency in particular, not the European Union.