The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties was held in Montreal (Canada) at the end of 2022. The international NGO ENDA Health representing local communities and indigenous peoples took part in the meeting. For this edition, the exchanges focused on the protection of biodiversity. Because of the pandemic of COVID-19, this meeting was held in two parts, the first online in Kunming (China), and the second in Canada in person.
This high-level meeting was attended by the Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment, who is also the President of the Conference of the Parties to this fifteenth meeting, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Canada, and the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The participants concluded a peace pact to develop a strategy for strengthening global biodiversity protection. This compact requires stronger international cooperation, political determination, and positive commitments to continued increases in funding, among other things. Concerned about the rapid collapse of ecosystems at the highest level, participants felt that this must be addressed for the survival of all species.
To achieve this, the Conference of the Parties needs the involvement of all actors: governments, civil society, private sector among others. The objective is to put the world on the path to a Life in harmony with nature by 2050. ENDA Santé, which is involved in the preservation of biodiversity through various projects, marked this meeting by negotiating in favor of local and indigenous communities. Senegal was also represented by the Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition.
At the end of the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity, COP15, a historic agreement was reached to protect 30% of the planet's land, coastal areas and inland waters by the end of the decade. The Parties also want to reduce food waste by half.
