UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday against continued government support for fossil fuels, stating that this support directly undermines global efforts to protect the environment and biodiversity.
Agence France-Presse quoted Guterres as saying, ahead of the launch of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Armenia, that fossil fuels exacerbate the climate change crisis and pose a direct threat to ecosystems, noting that the world is still directing huge financial resources toward activities that harm nature.
Guterres added that countries have not achieved the required progress in implementing their commitments to reduce support for environmentally harmful activities, despite the commitments adopted at the COP15 conference in Montreal in 2022, which included working to reduce these subsidies by approximately 500 billion dollars annually.
Delay in Financial Implementation
The COP17 conference, which will take place in Yerevan between the 18th and 30th of this month, will discuss the progress made in achieving biodiversity protection goals by 2030, amid signs of slowing efforts related to financing environmental programs and redirecting government support away from activities causing the degradation of natural systems.
Montreal 2022 Goals
In 2022, 200 countries adopted a global framework for nature protection during the COP15 conference in the Canadian city of Montreal, which includes 23 main goals by 2030, including reducing support for activities harmful to biodiversity, protecting 30% of land and oceans, and enhancing funding for environmental conservation projects.
Countries face challenges related to securing the necessary funding and accelerating the implementation of environmental commitments, at a time when concerns are growing about the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss on global food and economic security.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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