COP15, The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, ended on Monday. The final agreement, known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, signed by almost 200 countries, is an attempt to turn around the current and accelerating loss of nature and biodiversity and the resulting threat to human life on the planet [1]
Has it succeeded?
The answers are mixed [2]
A key target it sets is for nations to protect and restore 30% of the world’s land and seas globally by 2030, while also respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples who depend on and steward much of Earth’s remaining biodiversity
However
the deal is weak on tackling the drivers of biodiversity loss, because it does not specifically call out the most ecologically damaging industries, such as commercial fishing and agriculture
Did it have anything to say about a vegan lifestyle?
Not directly. But if the resolutions are to be seriously followed, then it seems to me that there has to be a significant move towards vegan diets and lifestyles.
There is no mention of the need for dietary change in the text. Huge reductions in meat-eating are essential to avoid the dangers of the climate crisis, and in western countries, beef consumption needs to fall by 90%, research shows. [3]
The closest the report comes to mentioning diet is Target 16 :
By 2030, reduce the global footprint of consumption in an equitable manner, including through halving global food waste, significantly reducing overconsumption and substantially reducing waste generation
It is surprising that while meat production is one of the major drivers of global extinction, the section in the report on food and consumption does not mention meat.
Apparently overconsumption and waste are the only culprits not the carbon footprint of what is on the plate.
The convention discusses sustainable use of biodiversity, meaning that there is a level at which consumption of wildlife and domestic livestock can continue, but does not specify any amount by which it should be reduced. And certainly not that it should cease. A missed opportunity!
The Final Report
Looking more closely at the final document, it consisted of 40 paragraphs, 4 major goals and 23 targets.
Here are a few that caught my attention
Para 30, Section G. Kunming-Montreal four long-term Global Goals for 2050
The goals were largely unquantified, but Goal A includes “Human induced extinction of known threatened species is halted, and, by 2050, extinction rate and risk of all species are reduced tenfold and the abundance of native wild species is increased to healthy and resilient levels”
A great goal to aim for, but 2050 is over 30 years away and is the goal adequate anyway?
Humans are driving one million species to extinction. Without drastic action to conserve habitats, the rate of species extinction — already tens to hundreds of times higher than the average across the past ten million years — will only increase [4]
So a tenfold reduction in the extinction rate would mean it is still up to ten times higher than the historical rate, and that is likely to be an underestimate.
Para 31, Section H. Kunming-Montreal 2030 Global Targets
Target 2, “Ensure that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine ecosystems are under effective restoration”. A good target, but who will decide when it has been met? The next year will be important for nailing down the details
Target 16
Ensure that people are encouraged and enabled to make sustainable consumption choices.
A great encouragement to make the vegan message known. Veganism is the most sustainable choice we can make
Target 18
Identify by 2025, and eliminate, phase out or reform incentives, including subsidies, harmful for biodiversity, in a proportionate, just, fair, effective and equitable way, while substantially and progressively reducing them by at least 500 billion United States dollars per year by 2030, starting with the most harmful incentives, and scale up positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity
Livestock farming is known to be a major cause of biodiversity loss. if this target is taken seriously we can expect to see the billions of dollars subsidies for meat production should be cut. [5]
Target 21
Ensure that the best available data, information and knowledge, are accessible to decision makers, practitioners and the public
Another great encouragement to educate, campaign and inform everyone we can about the vegan message: Veganism is the most sustainable choice we can make
References
[1] https://www.cbd.int/conferences/2021-2022/cop-15/documents
including:
– CBD/COP/15/L.25 – The main Kunming-Montreal Global biodiversity framework
– CBD/COP/15/L.16 – Biodiversity and agriculture
[2] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04503-9
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/20/cop15-montreal-did-it-deliver-for-natural-world-aoe
[4] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01448-4
[5] https://veganpieces.org/climate/why-your-plant-based-diet-will-benefit-others-not-just-yourself
