Vice President Faisal Naseem stated on Wednesday that the ambitions of the United Nations-led Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) should be in concert with the unique circumstances of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The Vice President made these remarks in a video message he delivered at the United Nations' fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15).
The Vice President noted that the Maldives is a founding member of "Political Vision: The 10 Point Plan for Financing Biodiversity," as SIDS is at the frontlines of the triple planetary crisis, including biodiversity loss. The plan, led by the Maldives alongside Ecuador, Gabon, and the United Kingdom (UK), calls on governments to come together in support of ambitious action for nature and support its protection, conservation, restoration, and sustainable use.
"We are large ocean states owing to the outstandingly rich biodiversity in our coastal and marine ecosystems," he said. "While we look to adopt the Global Biodiversity Framework in a few days, it is imperative to be pragmatic and to ensure the correct means of implementation towards halting and reversing biodiversity loss."
In conclusion, the Vice President called on humanity to ensure that nature survives and that, as humans, we "are not responsible for the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of lives within these ecosystems." He also stressed the need to remain within the safe limits of the planetary boundaries and called on the global community to work together towards living in harmony with nature.
COP15 takes place in Montreal, Canada, from December 7-19, 2022. The GBF sets targets and milestones for governments to meet by the end of the decade to protect the world's oceans and land, reduce pesticide use, eliminate plastic waste, and increase financial resources dedicated to biodiversity.
