Most people are very aware of the COP climate events, but many are less aware of their biodiversity focused sibling. The Biodiversity “Conference of the Parties” COP15 will run from the 7th to 19th of December. It will see scientists, government officials, experts and activists gather in Montreal to make joint commitments to reverse nature loss protect sensitive ecosystems.

Initially the event was scheduled to take place in China but due to Covid it’s been delayed lots of times, the Chinese Government are now co-organising the meeting with the Canadian Government. Much of the technical workings have already taken place in virtual meetings during October.

There’s some major things that we need to see come out of COP15:
• Effective protection for at least 30% of land inland waters, seas and coasts by 2030
• A legally binding global treaty to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030
• Nature targets for species recovery, habitat restoration and prevention of extinctions
• Commitments to tackle some of the main drivers of biodiversity decline such as the unsustainable use of ecosystems, pollution and invasive non-native species
• Make sure there is enough money to achieve this, including leveraging private sector funding.

Much of this is enshrined upon the previously developed “zero-draft” drawn up during the on-line meetings in October and we must not see this watered down.

There is a massive overlap between actions to tackle nature loss and actions that can help prevent and alleviate climate change. The Trust has long called for the widespread adoption of meaningful nature-based solutions which fully engage communities, and we would like to see a strong rallying call for these come out of COP15.

The UK Government will be the signatory to agreements made at COP15 but this will still have major significance for Scotland. Indeed, Scotland has already endorsed the “Leaders Pledge for Nature” and committed to reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. The Scottish Government has also been part of developing the “Edinburgh Declaration on post-2020 global biodiversity framework” which relates to subnational governments aspirations for nature.

Crucially in Scotland the COP15 process will have a major bearing on our new Scottish Biodiversity Strategies, associated delivery plans and the forthcoming Natural Environment Bill.

The Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity. Lorna Slater, MSP has confirmed that a new draft of the Biodiversity Strategy will be launched at COP15, “which will give us the scope to make further amendments that may be required once the global framework for biodiversity is finalised”.

We are keen to see this revised draft of the Strategy and we welcome the commitment to consultation and scrutiny of this and the associated delivery plans. However, we must be realistic that this means we will not have a new Strategy in place until 2024.

Given the ambitious target of reversing declines in nature by 2030 we are going to have our work cut out in Scotland to meet this target. This will require a paradigm shift in thinking across business and government and we must see an end to high level ambition that does not come with associated action, commitment and investment.

Keep up to date with the latest developments from the UN Environment Programme here.

Bruce Wilson, Head of Policy and Advocacy, Scottish Wildlife Trust