Montreal could host the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15

If the city of Kunming in China is unable to host COP15 on biodiversity, which will take place in a few months, the executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity is assessing Montreal’s chances of hosting the event in 8 out of 10.

This was answered by Elizabeth Maruma Mrema to the CEO of the Foundation of Greater Montreal Karel Mayrand, who asked her on the subject at an exchange organized by the Council on International Relations of Montreal (CORIM).

The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity began in Kunming, China in the fall of 2021.

The event was held in a hybrid format, meaning leaders participated online.

The second part of this conference is supposed to take place in a few months, but health regulations and the repeated incarceration in China’s major cities could force the United Nations to look for a place other than Kunming.

I said 8 [chances sur 10]because Montreal is the home of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ms. Maruma Mrema, speaking about the organization that has its headquarters on rue Saint-Jacques.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, the CDB secretary said that China remains the number one optionpero parang there are pressures to not postpone the COPhe explained that the United Nations began to look at other optionsand could be Montreal the default option if the government is willing to bear the cost.

If China retreats, the country must be replaced be prepared to bear the costs and quickly organized the event, added the first African woman to be appointed CDB secretary.

Thirty years after the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity at the Rio Earth Summit, the next COP is particularly important, according to Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, especially because of recent scientific evidence that biodiversity loss is occurring at an unprecedented rate and that biodiversity loss is also associated with other environmental issues such as pollution, soil degradation, climate change.

In a speech in Montreal on Tuesday, he referred to a particularly disturbing report published in 2019 by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which reports to the UN.

More than half a million terrestrial species there is insufficient shelter for their long -term survival and are in danger of extinction, many for decades, unless their habitats are restored, according to this report.

The rate of extinction of species is accelerating, causing serious consequences for the human population and threatening to destroy the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life around the worldIPBES President, Robert Watson, recalled when the report was published.

Food waste at a biodiversity event

Also in an interview, the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity also mentioned the need resistance to subsidies that harm biodiversitysuch as subsidies to farmers who use certain types of pesticide or subsidies to large industrial groups that raise cattle.

A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) indicates that subsidies for cattle farmers are particularly detrimental to biodiversity and to efforts to combat climate change.

Ironically, beef was served at diners who traveled to the Westin Hotel in Montreal to hear Elizabeth Maruma Mrema.

A fish starter was also served, but few plates of this gravlax remained on the tables during the event, as some guests did not show up. An event manager told The Canadian Press that unfortunately the fish in question would go in the trash.

In March 2021, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimated that 17% of the total food available to consumers in 2019 was thrown into households, shops, restaurants and other food service bins and UNEP has indicated that to address the loss of biodiversity, governments and citizens around the world must do their part to reduce food waste.

In Quebec, various organizations, such as the Quebec Council for Eco-responsible Events (CQEER), facilitate and encourage the organization of sustainable and eco-responsible events.