Biodiversity Summit Has Major Goals, But Is The World Listening?

Public and private leaders from around the world are meeting in the Colombian city of Cali this week. They're attending a major climate summit called COP16. Its aim is hefty. COP16 seeks to preserve natural habitats during a time of extreme technological advances that are wrecking nature's systems.    

The last such meeting was COP15. It occurred two years ago. Then, leaders of nations agreed on a global treaty. The treaty was designed to conserve at least 30% of land and seas. It also aimed to cut measures that hurt the planet by at least $500 billion. That deal had 23 eco-friendly targets. They're ones that scientists say, two years later, are nowhere close to being on pace by the target year of 2030.   

For instance, coral reefs are fading in oceans across the planet. And droughts are drying up the vital Amazon River. They're also depleting its attached South American rainforest. A new report from nature groups found that less than 3% of the ocean is safe from harmful activities, like overfishing.  

“We need to expand life, not cut it down,” Colombia President Gustavo Petro warned the summit in a speech that opened COP 16.

Indeed, conservationists note that many present at COP16 did not bring action plans. Instead, many are only stating renewed target goals. And they're one that now fall short of what was agreed upon at COP15.  

The United Nations backed the summit. COP16's sponsors are asking nations to provide more concrete plans to halt biodiversity loss. What's one key challenge? Experts say poor nations with rich natural resources, like South America and Africa, may question how to pay for conservation measures? And if they cannot, how much will rich nations subsidize such efforts?    

Reflect: What do you think are some important steps we can take to protect our environment and natural resources for future generations?