The president of the Blue Ocean Foundation, Tiago Pitta e Cunha, warned this Saturday of the importance of stopping the loss of biodiversity and biomass in the oceans, since the survival of humanity could be at stake.
There are scientists who say that this chance to reverse ocean biological declinecreating a reserve that will last until 2030/50, he recalled.
will be a reserve 30% of marine protected areasso that it is possible to maintain “a minimum of the nature of the oceans” and so that the planet reaches the end of the century with the capacity “to keep alive on the planet the life support systems without which much of life disappears.” .
The warnings from Tiago Pitta and Cunha arise in relation to the next world summit on biodiversity, COP16, which begins on Monday in Cali, Colombia, and which for 10 days should develop mechanisms to preserve 30% of the planet by 2030.
The summit comes almost two years after the meeting held in Canada (COP15), in which a global agreement to protect biodiversity was adopted, the so-called Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (QGBK-M), signed by 190 countries. and that contemplates the efficient management of 30% of the world’s terrestrial, inland, coastal and marine areas by 2030.
Currently, only around 17% of terrestrial areas and 8% of marine areas are legally protected, but there is consensus that especially marine areas are often only protected on paper.
In statements to Lusa, the person in charge, in what he considered a realistic analysis, said that he would like the 8% to increase to 15% in 2026, and that in 2028 it would be more than 20%, up to 25%.
If 30% is not reached by 2030 but there is a “very strict approach route, we are already in the right direction,” and for that to happen it is necessary that “a roadmap, a map” emerge from the Cali meeting. for the course of the coming years, he argued.
This is because, he insisted, so that life on Earth does not become unviable at the end of the century, “at least for humanity,” 30% of the planet must be protected and the main instrument to do so is to create a path for countries to reach this value. This roadmap must be defined in the next summits.
“To understand if we are going in the right direction of 30%,” said Tiago Pitta e Cunha, underlining that without this model and without a monitoring mechanism the objectives will not be achieved.
The Blue Ocean Foundation, he said, has been working with a French institute on how this mechanism should work, which should have intermediate goals between 2024 and 2030, and has sought to have this issue discussed in Cali.
The president of the environmental association Zero and university professor (Universidade Nova), Francisco Ferreira, adds another point: in this COP16, of implementation, one of the crucial aspects is also the monitoring and mobilization of resources.
“Having indicators to follow what is happening and mobilizing financing of 20 billion euros per year are crucial priorities,” said Francisco Ferreira, who will participate in the summit, also speaking with Lusa.
Recalling that this year two more “COPs” will be held, one on climate and another on desertification, all linked to the current planetary crisis, Francisco Ferreira stated that in Cali it is essential to start working on the 23 global objectives decided at the Summit . The last summit, two years ago in Montreal, will be reached in 2030.
“It is necessary for each country to present its strategy and action plan on biodiversity. “Portugal is still doing it,” he noted.
And as Tiago Pitta e Cunha left a warning: “biodiversity is currently a truly dramatic planetary crisis. “We are losing biodiversity, we have a growing population and we also have the threat of climate change to biodiversity itself.”
This is also the reason why Tiago Pitta e Cunha wants greater awareness to emerge from COP16 about the importance of biodiversity, because people are not aware of the “30 by 30” goal, protecting 30% of the world’s nature. by 2030.
Source: Observadora
