Campaigners say COP15 summit in Canadian city could fail to meet urgency of the issue, with about 1 million plant, insect and other animal species now threatened with extinction.
Hundreds of people have braved sub-zero temperatures to march in the streets of
Montreal, the host city of this year’s UN biodiversity summit,
demanding a strong new deal to protect nature worldwide.
Wearing costumes to look like birds, trees and caribou,
activists said on Saturday the COP15 summit could fail to meet the urgency
of the issue, with about 1 million plant, insect and other
animal species now threatened with extinction.
“We are inside the negotiations, we see what is happening
and it is clearly not sufficient compared to our ambitions and
our priorities,” said the Global Youth Biodiversity Network’s
Esmeralda Wirtz, who traveled from Belgium to attend the summit.
“That’s why it is important to be on the streets today.”
Delegates from 193 countries at the summit are considering
24 targets, including pollution cuts and protecting 30 percent of the
world’s land and sea by 2030.
“Governments have had years to reach the agreement we need
to save our planet’s biodiversity from extinction,” said Oscar
Soria, Campaign Director at Avaaz, a global civic movement which
helped to organize Saturday’s march.
With the draft agreement still being negotiated, Soria
worried there wouldn’t be enough time for an ambitious deal
before the summit closes on Dec. 19.
“They’ve turned COP15 into a stand-off,” Soria said.
Police on horseback, bicycle and foot patrolled the
perimetre of the peaceful march, from where it began in
Montreal’s Mont Royal Park to the city’s downtown, where COP15
is being held from December 7-19.
READ MORE: UN chief slams MNCs, warns ‘humanity has become weapon of mass extinction’
Indigenous groups leading the march for nature through Montreal today. Big turnout despite -5C temps. #COP15
pic.twitter.com/072IUPCXwO
— Daisy Dunne (@daisydunnesci) December 10, 2022
Indigenous rights
The march through Montreal also saw strong calls to protect
human rights, particularly those of Indigenous groups who for
years have worked to prevent nature loss on their lands.
Arkilaus Kladit, a member of the Knasaimos-Tehit tribe,
traveled to Montreal from West Papua, Indonesia.
Dressed in a
thick black parka against a midday temperature of -7 degrees
Celsius, Kladit told the Reuters news agency via
translator that illegal logging and development activities were
threatening the forests back home.
Countries’ ministers join the negotiations next week in
Montreal with the hope of adopting a deal to guide conservation
through 2030 and beyond.
READ MORE:
Indigenous people seek stronger land rights at Montreal nature summit
Source: Reuters
Activists dressed as birds and trees seek robust deal at Montreal summit
Source: News Achor Trending
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