Caring for God’s creation: Biodiversity COP16
Our Vicechair, Barbara Echlin, reflects on the biodiversity conference happening in Colombia.
“We hope that the COP16 in Colombia can help the world to make peace with nature, so that we can sustain and maintain life on the planet forever,” says Susana Muhamad, Colombia environment minister.
The world is grappling with the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Climate change is pushing nature – trees, plants, animals, whole eco-systems – beyond their capacity to survive. This is leading to an unprecedented rate of biodiversity loss. This, in turn, threatens food security and undermines efforts of nature and people to adapt. The United Nations conference, COP16, aims to increase protection and restoration of nature as an essential aspect of climate action.
COP16 is a critical moment in campaigns to protect forests like the Amazon. The Amazon’s unrivalled biodiversity, which makes it one of the planet’s best defences against climate change, is turned to ash for industrial agriculture, logging and mining. World governments have pledged to deliver at least $20 billion a year in nature finance to the Global South by 2025 to protect biodiversity globally. They will be presenting their plans at COP16.
UN conferences are always a mixture of official delegates, scientists, politicians, campaigners and big money lobbyists. A recent Greenpeace newsletter highlighted that the UK’s financial sector is the world’s 4th largest financier of major companies destroying rainforests and nature. Only the US, the EU and China finance nature destroyers more. British money is disproportionately responsible for crimes against precious wildlife and their homes.
This is relevant for another related October event: Good Money Week (30 September to 6 October). This is all about engaging more people in conversation and action to ensure money is used for good – from switching to a greener bank to championing businesses that put people and planet first. For Christians it is also an opportunity to pray for a greener, fairer economy. God loves all created things, including plants, animals, insects, fungi, bacteria and the soil which nourishes everything – and also we human beings. To quote Isaiah, may the delegates at these various conferences and meetings go out with joy and be led out in peace so that the mountains and the hills will break into songs of joy in their presence, and all the trees will clap their hands.
See our new Nature leaflet – do order some for your church
And also the Church of England’s guide to the UN COPs
Some other COP16 Links:
- https://www.cbd.int/conferences/2024
- https://www.climatechangenews.com/2024/09/19/biodiversity-finance-grew-ahead-of-cop16-but-came-mostly-as-loans-says-oecd-report/
Next: United for people, climate and nature
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