Politicians and environmental leaders from more than 180 countries have been in Vancouver, B.C., this week, with many pledging to accelerate action on climate change and biodiversity loss at the assembly of the Global Environment Facility.
The organization manages a series of funds aimed at helping developing countries meet their climate goals, such as those established by the Paris Agreement, which sets a target of limiting global heating to 鈥渨ell below鈥� 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.
Facility CEO Carlos Manuel Rodriguez said the need to accelerate action is more urgent than ever, as disasters linked to global heating devastate communities worldwide, including wildfires ravaging British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.
鈥淭he climate and biodiversity crisis is not something that is going to happen later this century, in 25 years,鈥� Rodriguez said in an interview ahead of the assembly, the seventh since his organization launched in 1991.
鈥淚t鈥檚happening right now. Look outside your window,鈥� he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the assembly ahead of its close Friday, saying Canada is experiencing its worst-ever wildfire season and 鈥渃limate change is key to the story.鈥�
鈥淣o one country, no one people can pretend anymore that what happens or doesn鈥檛 happen on the other side of the world doesn鈥檛 matter to them,鈥� Trudeau said. 鈥淎nd not just 鈥榙oesn鈥檛 matter鈥� even in an abstract way, but 鈥榙oesn鈥檛 matter鈥� in a concrete, affect-your-daily-lives way.鈥�
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Canada鈥檚 minister of environment and climate change, Steven Guilbeault, likewise said the wildfires that have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes serve as an 鈥渦nwanted reminder of the need to act together with urgency.鈥�
The minister made the remarks Wednesday as he opened a meeting with several dozen of his counterparts from around the world in Squamish, B.C., to discuss progress, challenges and opportunities in implementing the global biodiversity framework struck at the United Nations meeting in Montr茅al last December.
鈥淭he climate change we鈥檙e seeing is with 1 degree Celsius,鈥� he said, referring to the level or warming that鈥檚 already occurred since the Industrial Revolution.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to see a world where we get to 2 degrees Celsius, what the impacts will be in Canada and around the world,鈥� Guilbeault said in an interview.
鈥淭herefore, we need to continue, and even accelerate,鈥� he said.
Guilbeault along with Ahmed Hussen, the federal minister of international development, announced Thursday that Canada would be the first country to make a public pledge in support of a fund launched during this week鈥檚 assembly.
Canada has earmarked $200 million for the new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund set up to help finance the implementation of the agreement struck in Montr茅al, which aims to put nature on path to recovery by the end of the decade.
鈥淭his is the start of a long climb,鈥� Guilbeault told the news conference.
鈥淲e will keep working with our international partners to mobilize $20 billion per year by 2025 and $30 billion by 2030 in financial resources for biodiversity,鈥� he said.
The United Kingdom has also pledged more than C$17 million.
Hussen noted the assembly has agreed for the first time to allocate 20 per cent of the new fund to Indigenous-led initiatives aimed at protecting biodiversity.
Canada is also adding $22.8 million to its earlier $219-million commitment to overall funding for the Global Environmental Facility, Hussen said.
Biodiversity and ecosystems underpin human health, well-being and economic growth, but biodiversity loss has reached 鈥渃ritical levels,鈥� he said.
Canada is among 40 states that have contributed money over the last 30 years, helping the organization provide $23 billion in fundingand facilitate more than five times that amount in co-financing for 5,000 projects in developing countries.
But Rodriguez said accelerating concrete action to address the crisis requires a 鈥減aradigm shift鈥� in how decisions are made and how funding is distributed in order to empower civil society鈥� especially youth, women, Indigenous Peoples and others often sidelined in international climate negotiations and domestic policy-making.
鈥淭here is a consensus that if we don鈥檛 incorporatecivil society and (the) private sector, there won鈥檛 be time to really be on track on climate and biodiversity,鈥� said Rodriguez, who previously served as Costa Rica鈥檚 environment minister.
The Global Environment Facility has so far worked mainly with political executives whose approval is required for civil society groups to receive any funding, he said.
But addressing the triple crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution demand a more inclusive, 鈥渨hole of society鈥� approach, Rodriguez said.
The assembly in Vancouver marks the starting point for that new model, he told an opening press conference on Wednesday, where he called on donors to 鈥渞edouble鈥� funding that鈥檚 expected to flow directly to civil society groups for the first time.
鈥淔or the last 15 years we鈥檝e been talking and talking about inclusion, about the relevance of non-state actors, about the role of civil society,鈥� he said in an interview.
鈥淏ut we never put the money behind the talk.鈥�
Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press
