<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">With high-stakes biodiversity talks kicking off in Montreal this week, a top UN official is urging bold action to avoid "irreversible" damage to the planet's precious ecosystems and species.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Much of Earth's nature has already been damaged by humans, threatening our finite sources of food, water, medicine, and leaving over a million species at risk of extinction.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Nearly 200 countries will try to hammer out a new global framework to protect nature at the COP15 talks opening Wednesday in Montreal, including a cornerstone 30 by 30 proposal to protect 30 percent of Earth's land and oceans by 2030.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Ahead of the talks, AFP spoke to Elizabeth Mrema, the head of the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), who called for the talks to be a "Paris moment" for nature, referring to the landmark 2015 agreement to limit global warming.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">What do you want to achieve at COP15?</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"For the Paris agreement to succeed, biodiversity also has to succeed. For climate to succeed, nature has to succeed, and that's why we have to deal with them together.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"We need to do something. We are already late. At least the scientists are telling us it's not too late, but we are about to reach the tipping points.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"If action is not taken now, then we'll be at the tipping points and the situation will be irreversible."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">How can we make sure this biodiversity deal doesn't fail like the last one did?</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"We've learned the lessons to ensure that the future will be different.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"The first thing many countries did was to review, update or develop their national biodiversity strategies and action plans.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"(Previously) biodiversity targets did not include a monitoring accountability mechanism to be able to measure progress.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"This time, the framework will be adopted together with a mechanism, or a framework, on review, reporting, monitoring, accountability."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">What are the most difficult targets yet to be negotiated?</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"One is the finance question. A number of countries wanted to be assured there will be adequate financial resources for implementation.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Some countries (are) even calling for the establishment of a biodiversity fund for that purpose... learning from the recent climate and other processes we can easily tell these might be rather difficult discussions.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Another issue is what is called Digital Sequencing Information for genetic resources.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"This genetic information is particularly (used) by the bioscience researchers (and) pharmaceutical industry for the production or development of medicines and vaccines, including Covid-19, and the producers of this genetic information are majority in the developing countries.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"The issue is, if they provide access to this information, what are they getting in return?"</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">How important are issues like finance and the 30 x 30 target?</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"We need to look at all the 22 targets, the entire framework in totality. If we are talking of not leaving anyone behind, then we cannot pick and choose. All targets are key.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"What is important is a framework being adopted. We all have an interest to ensure it is implemented to avoid getting back to where we are coming from.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"That is (most) important, especially bearing in mind the results and difficult reports and the gloomy, grim figures and statistics we are getting that the loss of biodiversity has reached unprecedented rates in the history of humankind.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"The current war is not helping, the food crisis is not helping, the energy prices are not helping."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">What role is business playing in shaping the negotiations?</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"I'm proud of them. They have never been as engaged as we've seen in this process.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"If the World Economic Forum tells us 50 percent of the global GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature... which means (its loss is) a business risk.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"If they are not part of the framework, their businesses will also suffer. When we talk of food systems, it's all private sector. Agricultural production is the private sector, the food chain is the private sector. The fashion industry is the private sector. So there is economic case -- business as usual can no longer continue.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"They are on board. They are putting pressure also for governments to take those strict measures." AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>