France’s ecological transition minister says determination, urgency and private finance will be needed to protect rainforests like those in Central Africa, site of an upcoming biodiversity summit.
(Bloomberg) — At the COP15 conference in Montreal last December, more than 190 countries agreed to preserve 30% of land and sea by 2030 and find at least $200 billion per year for biodiversity conservation. But what happens next?France’s government is one of many now figuring out how to implement the COP15 agreement through national law. At a private finance and biodiversity summit organized by the British government this month, Bloomberg Green met with the country’s minister for ecological transition, Christophe Béchu, to talk about everything that has to be ironed out from here. That includes how much funding will be needed to protect some of Earth’s most valuable and vulnerable ecosystems, as well how to administer that funding and by when.
In addition to biodiversity funding, Béchu discussed French President Emmanuel Macron’s upcoming trip to Libreville, Gabon, for a summit on biodiversity on March 1 and 2. Critics have questioned the timing of Macron’s trip — ahead of Gabonese elections later this year — saying it may suggest tacit support for President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose family have ruled the country for more than five decades. Béchu dismissed these concerns, saying the summit’s main focus on protecting the world’s tropical rainforests is too important to ignore. “If we don’t protect this specific area, it will be just impossible to respect the Paris Agreement or to stay at a reasonable degree of global warming,” he said.
The following conversation was edited for length and clarity.
Bloomberg Green: We’re speaking at an event that has been all about private finance. What is the role of the private sector in terms of mobilizing finance for nature?
Christophe Béchu: So we are a few weeks after this historical moment of [the COP15 deal] but if we want to have real success, we need money and we need the financial part. We have had a lot of ambition about targets, restoration, protection, but to achieve the framework, we need to mobilize financial resources.
When you see the huge needs we have, you realize public funds will not be enough to do it. And so, this morning, it was the first occasion to discuss with the private sector about how we can mobilize more finance for the twin fight against global warming and against the loss of biodiversity.
The first key way to do it is to redirect harmful subsidies because you have a lot of money, but part of it is not used for biodiversity but against it. The second part is to mobilize funds from the GEF [Global Environment Facility] to create subsidies for the south countries.
BG: There have long been targets for both private and public finance to provide aid for climate mitigation and adaptation. Those targets have consistently been missed. How can we avoid that with nature and biodiversity? Are you confident that they won’t be missed here too?
CB: I am not confident. I am fighting like all of us. This question is not about optimism. It’s about determination. It’s about wish, it’s about ambition, and not only about what is possible, but what is necessary. And the fight against global warming is not an option. It’s just a necessity, if you like [the] planet, if you love life, if you love the species.
The fight for biodiversity has one advantage: it’s more concrete. It was relevant in Montreal. Emission gases are invisible. You see the effects, but you don’t see every day the consequences with your human eye. You have to read reports, you have to hear the experts and even if you can see some floods in a part of the world, temperatures with records everywhere in the world, it’s not the same as the extinction of species. The mobilization of the international community is really strong.
We have one disadvantage. It’s difficult to have only one indicator for the whole planet. It’s why I am not optimistic, but I want to believe we’ll have more results.
And secondly it’s not only a global fight, it’s equally a domestic one. We need others to obtain results for climate but even if you are fighting alone to protect your own biodiversity you can obtain some concrete results.
BG: Is the global biodiversity framework already in French law or are you putting it into legislation?
CB: Just currently. We are working with the shareholders, because we have to discuss with non-governmental organizations in France to have a national translation.
For the 30 by 30 — we have the number but what is the exact rule for this part of the French ocean and the French lands? [How much] national money do we need to protect our species, etcetera? Clearly we will achieve [a resolution] before the end of this year.BG: The One Forest Summit will be held in Gabon in March. Macron is visiting, ahead of elections in Gabon later this year which are likely to be heavily contested. He’s faced some criticism for this. How do you respond to that criticism?
CB: You can always find some polemics. But what is important, we have an agreement for the world with the 30 by 30, but with one question — where to begin.
We have, on this planet, [on] only 14% of the world surface, 75% of the carbon stock. And the tropical rainforests, it’s like a climate bomb. If we don’t protect this specific area, it will be just impossible to respect the Paris Agreement or to stay at a reasonable degree of global warming. [This summit] in Libreville, organized with Gabon, is to determinate how we can help indigenous people. How can we create some remuneration to avoid deforestation? It’s something crucial for the Congo Basin, for Amazonia and for South Asia.
–With assistance from Natasha White.
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