Biodiversity. Portugal has “increased difficulty” but will meet goals of the “historic” agreement
The Portuguese Government congratulates itself on the agreement to protect global biodiversity reached at COP15 in the early hours of this Monday, in Canada.
In statements to Renaissancethe Secretary of State for Conservation of Nature and Forests, who represented Portugal at the summit, says it is a “historic” agreement and, while acknowledging the existence of difficulties, ensures that Portugal is committed to its goals.
“Our maritime territory is 18 times larger than our terrestrial territory and the difficulty is really greater, above all because I need to investigate, it is to know where are these values to be preserved, where is this biodiversity and this requires a very close work between all higher education institutions, our autonomous regions, which have done important work in these areas, and we have this target of 30%”, says João Paulo Catarino.
After four years of conversations and almost two weeks of workthe member states of COP15 closed the agreement, precisely on the penultimate day of the summit dedicated to the theme in Montreal, Canadaand which provides guarantees for the protection of at least 30% of the planet’s land and water by 2030, with hundreds of billions directed towards the conservation of species and wild species.
For João Paulo Catarino, the most significant thing about COP15 is that it was possible to reach a consensus among more than 190 countries, largely thanks to the negotiation of a Fund for Biodiversity.
“It was possible because, at the same time, a Biodiversity Fund was negotiated as a guarantee. By 2025, 20 million US dollars will be transferred from donor countries to countries in the southern hemisphere, and by 2030, there will be more than 30 million. It is a historic agreement for the world”, underlines the Secretary of State.
On the occasion of the works in which they participated, the official also revealed that Portugal is working on the creation of new protected areas.
“We are working in Pedro do Valado, in a marine area of the Algarve, next to Armação de Pera, we already have the work very advanced, we are also working with the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira, and recently the Azores classified over three thousand kilometers of marine area”, announced João Paulo Catarino.