Fiji has expressed significant concerns regarding the ambition and quality of the revised National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan (NBSAP) currently being developed. During the Opening Plenary of the COP16 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Dr. Sivendra Michael, the Permanent Secretary for Environment, emphasized the urgent need for effective action in light of the imminent risk of ecosystem collapse. He noted the commitment to mobilize $20 billion annually by 2025, highlighting a stark shortfall in the funding that developing nations require to support their conservation and restoration initiatives.
Dr. Michael pointed out that financial resources are essential for implementing these plans and urged all Parties to take meaningful steps in Cali to remove obstacles to action, warning that failure to do so could lead to irreversible losses in biodiversity. He remarked that new funding commitments for biodiversity protection have been limited in the past 18 months, which further hinders the ability to achieve global biodiversity goals.
He cautioned that a lack of financial mobilization, along with insufficient actions at the national level, jeopardizes efforts to stop and reverse the loss of nature by 2030. Dr. Michael stressed that COP16 must result in concrete actions necessary to address the ongoing destruction of nature and the alarming trends that threaten its resilience.
Fiji remains dedicated to achieving this global objective and has submitted its revised national biodiversity targets, aligning its NBSAP with the global biodiversity framework. He emphasized the urgency of taking decisive actions to halt and reverse the biodiversity crisis by 2030, as agreed upon in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
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