Capturing currents

  Putting people before the Planet does justice to neither By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation With the 16 th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity ending on an inconclusive note in Cali Colombia on 1 st November 2024, (essentially on grounds of fiscal inconclusivity),   news release today   says the Cali COP 16 will conclude in Rome in February 2025. In the wee hours of 2 nd November 2024 almost all delegates walked out of the venue as they had flights to board … the fiscal commitments were left askance in the air, commitments to policy and legislative measures to achieve the impossible – reduce and reverse Global Warming by 1.5 0 globally by 2030, mitigate sea level rise and natural disaster risk, eradicate hunger and poverty, secure water, food and livelihood security and mitigate biodiversity loss by re-greening the planet … all by 2030. Putting up a brave face Ms. Astrid Shomaker the Executive Secretar...

  By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation Cali, Colombia 2.11.24 Curtains are drawn close at Cali Colombia for the 16 th Conference of Parties at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The “Parties” made a grand yet sincere attempt at putting People before the Planet – to be a democratic exercise. There are some bits of good news and some bad. There has been fiscal commitments to DSI or Digital Sequence Information, but Sandra Valenzuela of WWF said at a Press Conference on closing day that fiscal commitment is not the same thing as funding. If cop 16 does not resolve issues of funding we are sitting on a hot potato. COP 16 is all about implementation... 119 countries have submitted NBSAPs. 44 are revising. 65% have submitted NBSAPs. Except India, Iran, Russia and Argentina others have submitted national targets n NBSAPs. Resource mobilization arena nothing is agreed till everything is agreed. Global north n south have to agree ... New funds is not...