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A French delegation at COP15

<!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002d>Some twenty members of Finance for Tomorrow/L’Institut de la finance durable were in Montreal from December 10 to 18 to support the adoption of an ambitious and bold global framework for biodiversity. Representatives of asset management companies, insurers and banks, as well as data providers and consulting firms, all took part in this high-level event, which resulted in the adoption of a ‘Peace Pact with Nature’ known as the ‘Kunming-Montreal Accord’.

A week of COP15

In Montreal, delegation members were able to take part in business and finance side-events at the Palais de Congrès de Montréal, or in external events staged by players from around the world in other venues outside the COP15 zone.

Thanks to the support of its Quebec partner, Finance Montréal, Finance for Tomorrow/L’Institut de la Finance Durable was able to organize two events on the COP15 external events agenda, focusing on the sharing of case studies in financing pro-nature projects and feedback on article 29 LEC.

Some members of the delegation were also able to take part in meetings and exchange views with Fondaction on its initiative to define ‘biodiversity’ indicators. Fondaction’s aim is to help Quebecers save for their retirement and finance Quebec SMEs, while contributing to sustainable development objectives. Members of the delegation met with the financial marketplace ecosystem at a networking event organized at the Caisse des dépôts et de placement du Québec, by our partner Finance Montréal.

Some members (MIROVA, SYCOMORE, LBPAM, Swen Cap, CDC B, B&L évolution) spoke at external events highlighting pioneering French initiatives alongside EFRAG, ISSB, Fondaction and Ecotierra. Others were able to forge links with local civil society players (WWF, IUCN, CI, etc.) and with French public authorities (MTE/CGDD, ministerial cabinets). All were able to attend live negotiations as part of ‘working groups’ mandated to make progress on one or other of the 23 targets of the Agreement (in particular targets 14 to 19) of primary concern to them.

The delegation took part in a joint event with members of the TNFD consultation group, met a delegation of French parliamentarians, exchanged views with the French Minister for Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, and discussed with the French negotiating team the objectives of the High Ambition Coalition known as ‘HAC 2.0 Coalition (which is to implement the 30×30 target engraved in the member of the Kunming Montreal Accord) or on the day-to-day progress of the negotiations, and in particular on certain targets of the Accord, and with the Minister for Development, on the organization of the One Forest Summit (to be held in Libreville in March 2023) in conjunction with companies from the real economy (Dior, Kering, L’Oreal, etc.).

A clear course for nature and people that applies to everyone

With the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Accord, Montreal has taken an important step towards combating the erosion of biodiversity and reclaiming the living world by 2030 and 2050. The success of this agreement will be measured by the coherence between international commitments and real, concrete actions to be implemented over the next 8 years.Place de Paris is determined to play its part. F4T/IFD members, some of whom have already been pioneers in the field of financing for nature, will be mobilized to move forward and bring the COP15 Momentum to life, and should resume exchanges with public authorities as early as January, in particular to work on financing HAC 2.0 and to take part in the fight against deforestation.

F4T/IFD should also continue to work with civil society, meeting with the NGO Conservation International in January to work on the implementation of the ‘Vital Earth’ project, supported by the public authorities and making the link between the climate and biodiversity challenges. F4T/IFD will continue to support its members within the framework of its Biodiversity and Natural Capital WG, notably by reflecting on an ambitious framework for biodiversity certification. In 2023, the Biodiversity and Natural Capital WG will have on its agenda: the implementation of article 29 of the LEC, participation in the objectives of the National Strategy against Imported Deforestation (testing of the Forest IQ beta framework from Global Canopy and Aligned Accountability), the return from the TNFD beta framework 3.0 tests, the sharing of experience and tools for measuring biodiversity footprints, and, more generally, exchanges around the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Agreement targets directly concerning economic players.

Stopping the erosion of biodiversity and becoming ‘nature positive’ in a few years’ time requires ‘transformative change’, according to the IPBES (the IPCC for biodiversity); this requires a structural rethink of our economy, enabling finance to play an essential role in meeting one of the greatest challenges of this century.

Content of the Agreement

The Kunming-Montreal Agreement comprises four objectives and 23 targets.

While the most emblematic of these, championed by the HAC group of over 110 countries led by France and Costa Rica, concerns the protection of 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030, it is, for many observers, the biodiversity equivalent of the Kyoto Protocol, the biodiversity equivalent of the Paris Agreement’s objective of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, the fact remains that the most important aspect of this agreement is, for once, the financing of its objectives.

 

Details of the expected objective of aligning financial flows endorsed at the Finance Day on 14/12/22

The Agreement calls on States Parties to eliminate and/or reform at least $500 billion in harmful subsidies (as a reminder, these total $1,800 billion per year) and redirect global financial flows towards ‘nature positive’ projects, mobilizing a total of at least $200 billion in favor of biodiversity by 2030. Note that this $200 billion must include ‘at least’ $20 billion in 2025 and ‘at least’ $30 billion in 2030 for developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, small island states and developing countries. This requirement was a red line for African countries in particular, andshould be seen in the context of AFD’s commitment to earmark €100 billion by 2025 for biodiversity projects.

Initially, $10 billion was planned, which is the amount currently earmarked by developed countries. While donor countries anticipated that this amount would be doubled, the trajectory for tripling the amount by the end of the decade remained uncertain, except for a broadening of the donor base to include all developed countries, whether or not they are parties to the convention agreement. This would include the United States, for example. Private sources of financing are also expected to be added to the fund. A key element of this decision is the creation of a fund called the ‘Global Biodiversity Framework Fund’, to be hosted by the Global Environment Facility from 2023 onwards, with the task of ‘rapidly mobilizing and disbursing’ (*these words are important) new and additional funding resources, from all possible sources: public, private, multilateral banks, etc.

Finally, the agreement endorses the creation of a ‘multilateral mechanism’ for sharing the benefits arising from the exploitation of digital sequencing information on genetic resources, or ‘DSI’. The operationalization process for this mechanism should be defined by the end of COP 16, scheduled for late 2024 in Antalya, Turkey.

 

Agreement objectives and targets for 2030 and 2050

  • Restoration of 30% of degraded ecosystems (marine and terrestrial) by 2030;

  • Conservation and management of 30% of terrestrial, aquatic, coastal and marine areas by 2030;
  • Halt the extinction of species threatened by human activities and ‘significantly’ reduce the risk of extinction (note that there is no percentage …) ;
  • Reduce the risk from pesticides by at least 50% by 2030;
  • Reduce fertilizers by at least 50% by 2030;
  • Reduce pollution risks and negative impacts from all sources by 2030;
  • Reduce the overall footprint of economic activities (and consumption) by 2030, including over-consumption and waste production;
  • Sustainably manage agricultural land, fishery resources, aquaculture and forestry, and substantially develop agroecology and other biodiversity-friendly practices;
  • Halve food waste and increase agroecology;
  • Address climate change issues through SFN;
  • Reduce the rate of introduction of IAS by at least 50% by 2030;
  • Safeguard the legal and sustainable use and trade of wild spaces by 2030;
  • Green urban spaces.