COLOMBIA - Behind on Climate Goals
As nearly 200 nations meet for a two-week U.N. biodiversity summit, COP16, in Cali, Colombia, they will be under pressure to prove their support for the goals laid out in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreement.
A top concern for countries and companies is how to pay for conservation, with the COP16 talks aiming to develop new initiatives that could generate revenues for nature.
“We have a problem here,” said Gavin Edwards, director of the nonprofit Nature Positive.
“COP16 is an opportunity to re-energize and remind everybody of their commitments two years ago and start to course correct if we’re going to get anywhere close to 2030 targets being achieved,” Edwards said.
The rate of nature destruction through activities like logging or overfishing has not let up, while governments miss deadlines on their biodiversity action plans and funding for conservation is billions of dollars away from meeting a 2025 goal.
The clearest sign of lagging efforts is the fact that most countries have yet to submit national conservation plans, known officially as National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), though they had agreed to do so by the start of COP16.
“The final indicator really is what’s the reality of biodiversity loss,” said Colombia’s Environment Minister Susana Muhamad. “We are not better off now than we were two years ago.”
-www.reuters.com, 21 October 2024
Arno's Commentary
In brief, we answer, planet earth does not need saving. It was created by God for man, and will continue to exist until God has fulfilled His plan. Second Peter 3:12 reads: “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” That is the end of planet earth as we know it; however, for those who believe, this glorious promise: “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (verse 13).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
