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Things To Know About Global Biodiversity Agreement

Published

3 years ago

December 20, 2022

After years of negotiations, the world has agreed a landmark deal to protect vanishing species and ecosystems.

Here are some of the strengths of the pact agreed at the UN meeting in Montreal called COP15, as well as where it fell short.

– ’30 by 30′ –

The cornerstone of the agreement is the so-called 30 by 30 goal — a pledge to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and seas by 2030 — up from about 17 percent of land and seven percent of oceans currently.

The oceans target had reportedly been opposed by some countries but made it into the final text. Some experts had said 30 percent is a low aim, insisting that protecting 50 percent would be better.

– Indigenous rights –

Indigenous rights were addressed throughout the text, including in areas covered by the 30 by 30 pledge — safeguarding Indigenous peoples’ right to remain stewards of land they use and ensuring they are not subject to evictions in the name of conservation.

The International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity praised the text for its “strong language on respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.”

– Funding –

The text approves the objective for rich countries to provide “at least US$20 billion per year by 2025, and … at least US$30 billion per year by 2030,” approximately double and then triple the current international aid for biodiversity.

Developing countries were seeking a new funding mechanism, but developed nations said it would take several years to create.

A halfway solution was adopted: a “trust fund” within an existing financial mechanism called the Global Environment Facility, as a stepping stone towards a new fund.

– Pesticides –

The accord prescribes efforts for “reducing the overall risk from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals by at least half.”

Some delegates and campaigners had argued that the emphasis should be on overall pesticide “use” which is easier to measure. But specialists said some pesticides are powerful in small quantities so the emphasis should be on “risk.”

– Genetic sequencing –

The framework demands people receive benefits from “genetic resources” originating in their countries: natural assets, such as medicine or cosmetic ingredients in plants, which may be sourced in a developing country but then have their genetic information mapped and shared with researchers and companies abroad.

The text calls on parties to “ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits that arise from the utilization of genetic resources and from digital sequence information” and “traditional knowledge” associated with them.

– Business –

Despite common fears of “greenwashing” at environment summits, several delegates and observers said businesses played a largely positive role at COP25. But some noted lacked a strong mandate for businesses to assess and report on their biodiversity impacts — the accord instead merely urged countries to “encourage” them to do so.

Eliot Whittington, director of policy at the says Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, said the accord should “prompt a new mandatory disclosure framework for larger businesses… something the business community has supported vigorously at COP15.”

– Milestones –

The document sets a mechanism for implementation of the deal, but it is less strict than the Paris climate agreement. Campaigners complained the COP15 text did not contain enough “milestones” for marking progress.

For example, the text says human-induced extinction of known threatened species must be halted, and, by 2050, the extinction rate of all species reduced tenfold — but there aren’t targets that countries must hit before that year.
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Nnamdi Kanu’s Case Proof Of Religious Persecution In Nigeria – US lawmaker, John James

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

Former chairman of the Africa Subcommittee and now a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative, John James, has claimed that the case of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, is proof of religious persecution in Nigeria.

James stated this when the United States House Subcommittee on Africa on Thursday, held a public hearing to review President Donald Trump’s recent redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.

The hearing in Washington, DC included senior US State Department officials and Nigerian religious leaders.

James claimed that in the case of Nnamdi Kanu, Nigeria’s Court of Appeal had struck down the charges against him and ordered his release in 2022.

He said: “Religious persecution is tied to political repression and weakening institutions in Nigeria. The detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a clear example.

“In 2022, Nigeria’s Court of Appeals struck down the charges against him and ordered his release.

“The UN Working Group for Arbitrary Detention has also called for his unconditional release, yet he remains in solitary confinement in deteriorating health and recently had to represent himself in court.

“Nigeria has signaled that the law is optional and targeting Christians is fair game. Just hours ago this morning, despite the pleas and cries of Nigerian people and many Nigerian lawmakers, Kanu was convicted on all charges.”

Nnamdi Kanu was on Thursday, sentenced to life imprisonment over terrorism charges.

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Nigerians Don’t Trust Their Govt – US Congressman Riley Moore

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

US Congressman Riley Moore has said that Nigerian people do not trust their government.

Moore stated this on Thursday at US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa, which is investigating Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’, CPC.

“The Nigerian people don’t trust their government. ‘How can you trust a government that doesn’t show up when you ask them to?

“The Nigerian government must work with the US in cooperation to address these insecurity issues.

“A case that just happened recently in Plateau state. We had a pastor there who warned the Nigerian government that they were under attack. There’s imminent attack forces here in the next 24 hours. Please come and help us.

“The Nigerian government did not only ignore it but put up a press release that it is fake news,” he said.

Moore would be meeting with a delegation of senior members of the Nigerian government, over the devastating insecurity in Nigeria and the US designation of the country as CPC, DAILY POST reports.

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US Makes U-turn, To Attend G20 Summit In South Africa

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

In an 11th-hour about-turn, the United States has told South Africa it wants to take part in this weekend’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday.

President Donald Trump’s administration had said it would not take part in the November 22-23 meeting and that no final statement by G20 leaders could be issued without its presence.

It has clashed with South Africa over various international and domestic policies this year, extending its objections to Pretoria’s G20 priorities for the meeting of leading economies being held for the first time in Africa.

“We have received notice from the United States, a notice which we are still in discussions with them over, about a change of mind about participating in one shape, form or other in the summit,” Ramaphosa told reporters.

“This comes at the late hour before the summit begins. And so therefore, we do need to engage in those types of discussions to see how practical it is and what it finally really means,” he said.

There was no immediate confirmation from US officials.

Ramaphosa said: “We still need to engage with them to understand fully what their participation at the 11th hour means and how it will manifest itself.”

In a note to the government on Saturday, the US embassy repeated that it would not attend the summit, saying South Africa’s G20 priorities “run counter to the US policy views and we cannot support consensus on any documents negotiated under your presidency”.

Ramaphosa said earlier Thursday that South Africa would not be bullied.

“It cannot be that a country’s geographical location or income or army determines who has a voice and who is spoken down to,” he told delegates at a G20 curtain-raiser event.

There “should be no bullying of one nation by another”, he said.

– ‘Positive sign’ –
Ramaphosa said the apparent change of heart was “a positive sign”.

“All countries are here, and the United States, the biggest economy in the world, needs to be here,” he said.

South Africa chose “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability” as the theme of its presidency of the G20, which comprises 19 countries and two regional bodies, the European Union and the African Union.

Its agenda focuses on strengthening disaster resilience, improving debt sustainability for low-income countries, financing a “just energy transition” and harnessing “critical minerals for inclusive growth and sustainable development”.

After early objections from Washington, it vowed to press on with its programme and its aim to find consensus on a leaders’ statement on the outcome of the discussions.

“We will not be told by anyone who is absent that we cannot adopt a declaration or make any decisions at the summit,” Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Thursday.

Trump has singled out South Africa for harsh treatment on a number of issues since he returned to the White House in January, notably making debunked claims of white Afrikaners being systematically “killed and slaughtered” in the country.

He expelled South Africa’s ambassador in March and has imposed 30 percent trade tariffs, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

US businesses were well represented at a separate Business 20 (B20) event that wound up in Johannesburg Thursday.

The head of the US Chamber of Commerce, Suzanne Clark, thanked South Africa for fostering “real collaboration between G20 nations during a time of rapid change” during its rotating presidency, which transfers to the United States for 2026.

“The US Chamber of Commerce will use our B20 leadership to foster international collaboration,” Clark said.

The United States has significant business interests in South Africa with more than 600 US companies operating in the country, according to the South African embassy in Washington.

G20 members account for 85 percent of global GDP and around two-thirds of the world’s population.