Fiji has expressed significant concern regarding the ambition and quality of the revised National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan (NBSAP) currently in development. During the Opening Plenary of the COP16 for the Convention on Biological Diversity, Dr. Sivendra Michael, Permanent Secretary for Environment, emphasized the urgent threat of ecosystem collapse and the necessity for action through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). He also highlighted the commitment to mobilize $20 billion annually by 2025, noting that there is a substantial shortfall in financing directed at developing countries for protection and restoration efforts.
Dr. Michael stressed that unlocking financial resources is crucial for implementing collective initiatives and called on all Parties to make progress in addressing barriers to action. He warned that failure to do so could lead to irreversible damage. He pointed out that new financial commitments for biodiversity protection over the past 18 months have been limited, complicating global efforts to meet biodiversity targets.
He expressed concern that insufficient financial mobilization, coupled with inadequate national actions, threatens to derail efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Dr. Michael stated that COP16 must yield outcomes that translate into urgent global actions needed to counteract the ongoing destruction of nature and the limits it faces. He reaffirmed Fiji’s commitment to the global objectives and noted that the nation has submitted its revised national biodiversity targets while aligning its NBSAP with the global biodiversity framework.
“It is vital that we take decisive actions to not only halt but reverse the crisis of biodiversity loss by 2030, as agreed in the Kunming-Montreal Global biodiversity framework,” he declared.
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