Of the estimated 8 million plant and animal species on Earth, up to 1 million are threatened with extinction, many within decades, according to scientists and researchers. .
On December 5, Friends of the Earth International published a new analysis, “The Nature of Business: The Impact of Business on the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Global Biodiversity Framework.” The analysis looks at how efforts to prevent further biodiversity loss on a global scale have been thwarted, eliminated or thwarted by corporate takeovers. The report traces examples of how companies are directly influencing the Global Biodiversity Framework and derailing their behavior in favor of profit.
The report denounces how companies and their coalitions use obscure and deliberately confusing terms that pass science, such as “nature-based solutions” and “nature-positive.” I’m here. indigenous.
Nele Marien, Coordinator of the Forests and Biodiversity Program at Friends of the Earth International, described the report at COP15 in Montreal today.
“From funding delegations to filling official secretariat roles with corporate actors to deliberately distorting scientific information, corporate influence is deeply at the heart of the CBD. The formation of a dedicated lobby coalition that allows many companies such as BP and Vale to present themselves as part of the solution and advocate for sustainability in green names. ‘Solutions’ are carefully crafted to not compromise your business model. Ultimately, they do nothing for the environment. ”
“There is a fundamental conflict of interest,” adds Nele Marien. “Corporations are the number one cause of biodiversity loss, ecosystem destruction and human rights violations. Addressing corporate CBD acquisition is a prerequisite to protecting biodiversity. United Nations and its Member States must resist corporate pressure and the CBD must regain its power to regulate business, but what we see today is that they protect some territories and It is completely inconsistent.
Hemantha Withanage adds: Indigenous peoples and local communities are already protecting 80% of existing biodiversity, often risking their lives to do so. Biodiversity conservation is ancillary to human rights, and corporate business should not play a central role as we see here in his CBD. ”
“I call on governments to put communities and indigenous peoples first. Companies need regulation and rules, people should be at the center of this agreement, protecting people, not shareholders,” said Rita Uwaka, Friends of the Earth Africa.
