It really doesn’t feel sad when you think about the situation in South Africa today. We are experiencing bouts of crippling load-shedding, staggering revelations about the extent of corruption in Eskom and, as if this was not enough, South Africa has also been placed on the Financial Action Task Force’s greylist for not stopping money laundering and terrorism financing. .
All this paints a bleak picture, and one would be forgiven for not feeling too optimistic about South Africa’s general governance.
But there is an area that provides some reprieve from other rather depressing situations of affairs, and it is in the context of the protection and restoration of the biodiversity of our country and, in particular, the steps taken by the Minister Barbara Creecy and the department of forestry, fisheries and environment to implement the international obligations of Africa South.
In December 2022, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (including South Africa), met for the 15th time (COP15), and for the first time in four years, to negotiate the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework. The framework, which contains four goals and 23 targets, has been heralded by many as the ‘Paris Agreement for nature’.
The Paris Agreement and its goal of keeping global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures has provided a globally accepted benchmark for governments and companies. Additionally, the biodiversity framework is set to provide a blueprint for halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030.
The framework is perhaps the most robust international response to catastrophic biodiversity loss the world has ever seen. But with only eight years left to reach the 23 ambitious targets, time is of the essence, and significant human, financial and technological resources will be needed to achieve implementation. Encouragingly, this fact is not lost on the department or Creecy.
In a virtual stakeholder feedback session held on February 10, the department’s director general, Nomfundo Tshabalala, who represented the SA delegation in Canada in December, outlined the goals of the framework, and how it will be implemented.
To reduce the threat to biodiversity, the framework contains the 30 × 30 landmark target, which seeks to ensure that at least 30% of the world’s land, fresh water and seas are conserved by 2030, while respecting the rights and contributions of indigenous peoples and local communities. . Currently 17% and 10% of the world’s land and sea areas are under protection.
Furthermore, the framework aims to have the restoration completed or carried out on at least 30% of land, inland waters and damaged coastal and marine ecosystems, and reduce the loss of areas with high biodiversity, including ecosystems with high ecological integrity. .
The framework also aims to prevent the extinction of endangered species known to man, to reduce pollution and to ensure that the use, harvest and trade of wild species is sustainable, safe and legal, preventing over-exploitation. Importantly, it also aims to reduce the impact of climate change on biodiversity, and increase its resilience.
The framework contains important targets related to meeting people’s needs through sustainable use of wild species and sharing benefits. This includes ensuring that nature’s contribution to humanity (including the ecosystem goods and services we rely on, such as the provision of food and the regulation of air and water) is restored, maintained and enhanced.
Critical targets in the framework include means of implementation, and Tshabalala paid particular attention to these targets during the feedback session. It is estimated that an additional $700 billion per year is needed to maintain biodiversity and conserve ecosystems. To achieve this amount, target 18 makes provisions to eliminate subsidies that have a harmful effect on biodiversity up to $500 billion per year by 2030, while target 19 requires financial flows to increase by $200 billion per year by 2030. .
Tshabalala explained that in order to mobilize $200 billion annually, COP15 adopted a Resource Mobilization Strategy, which will be implemented in two phases: an intermediate phase (2023-2024) to raise $20 billion annually by 2025, and a medium-term phase (2025–2030) to raise at least $30 billion annually by 2030.
Tshabalala emphasized that financial flows are necessary to ensure the implementation of the framework and must be supported by mechanisms that will strengthen technical and scientific cooperation.
Previous biodiversity targets agreed in 2010 were not met. While the idea is good on paper, the target is not properly implemented, so it cannot be achieved. What stood out from the stakeholder feedback session was the commitment made by Creecy and the department to implement the framework, and the plans outlined in this regard.
The first step of the plan includes hosting engagements with stakeholders who can contribute to the implementation plan. Second, the department plans to hold a national feedback session on the framework to be implemented with all stakeholders. Third, the department will categorize 23 framework targets to facilitate implementation. Finally, the department will review South Africa’s national biodiversity strategy and action plan, and align it with the implementation of South Africa’s white paper on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
Accountability in the implementation of the framework is key, and Tshabalala explained that the department will develop national indicators on which the process can be tracked to evaluate whether the targets are in fact being achieved. A national report will be developed from the monitoring and evaluation process.
One can only be encouraged, in less than two months from the framework adopted in Montreal, Creecy and his department have taken concrete steps to implement and achieve the target.
As Tshabalala notes, the framework is seen as a new road map of living in harmony with nature, and achieving its implementation will be critical if South Africa, and the world, is not to fail to meet internationally agreed targets to protect it. and restore our planet.
Kate Handley is an environmental lawyer and executive director of the Center for Biodiversity Law, a non-profit legal clinic that works to use the law to reverse the catastrophic decline of biodiversity in South Africa.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official policy or position Mail & Guardians.