COP15: Daily highlights – December 8, 2022

Montréal (Quebec) – December 8, 2022

Minister’s thought of the day

“Today’s personal highlight for me was joining forces with Margaret Atwood to announce 14 Canadian cities who are now certified by Nature Canada as “bird friendly” cities! Birds enrich our urban environments while helping to balance our ecosystems, and we all benefit when we raise awareness about the importance of bird life. Meanwhile, we are closely following the work of negotiators who are in full swing, though we still need to see a greater sense of urgency from negotiating teams. Ideally, over the coming days, we can really focus on areas of agreement and remove as many bracketed text sections as possible ahead of the Ministerial segment next week. I remain very optimistic, as we’ve already landed a number of sections in the text in the past days. Canada is standing firm on the need for an ambitious global biodiversity framework that puts in motion holistic, transformative change, including the need to conserve at least 30 percent of the global land and the global ocean while respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities.”

– The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change

Quote of the day

“First, we want to thank Canada for its incredibly strong leadership on the kickoff of COP15. They announced major new international funding for biodiversity conservation, as well as significant investment in Indigenous-led conservation in Canada. They were very clear that a deal for the post 2020 framework must include an overarching target to halt and reverse the loss of nature. They must mobilize resources to achieve this from all sources including governments, the private sector, philanthropy and multilateral institutions. And they also said this must be done in full partnership with Indigenous peoples.”

– Brian O’Donnell, Director of Campaign for Nature

Photo of the day

Credit: Environment and Climate Change Canada

Access to the host photographer images can be found here: UN Biodiversity’s albums | Flickr.

Daily event summary: December 8, 2022

• Nature Canada hosted an event to announce several Canadian municipalities as a Bird Friendly City, alongside Minister Guilbeault. Read the news release here.
• CPAWS Quebec hosted a panel discussion which included Minister Guilbeault. The panel’s focus was, “Joining the Dialogue: Solutions to the underlying causes of biodiversity loss.”

Upcoming event summary: December 9, 2022

Event: Federal leadership on other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) in Canada (news release)

Event: Media callback to discuss the first week of COP15 with Minister Guilbeault
Time: 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Location: on Zoom

Event: Indigenous-led conservation announcements: First Nations Guardians Network and Natural Climate Solutions Program
Time: 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location: Canada Pavilion, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Event: Media scrum with Minister Guilbeault
Time: 5:00 p.m. to 5:20 p.m.
Location: Canada Pavilion, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Event: Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and Indigenous leaders from across Canada are hosting a reception. Minister Guilbeault will be in attendance.
Time: 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

For more information on the daily schedule, visit the UN CBD website: Convention on Biological Diversity (cbd.int).