{"id":47764,"date":"2022-12-12T17:38:39","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T17:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatechangenews.com\/?p=47764"},"modified":"2022-12-12T17:38:39","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T17:38:39","slug":"governments-split-on-ditching-nature-harming-subsidies-in-montreal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2022\/12\/12\/governments-split-on-ditching-nature-harming-subsidies-in-montreal\/","title":{"rendered":"Governments split on ditching nature-harming subsidies in Montreal"},"content":{"rendered":"

With one week left to strike a \u201conce-in-a-generation” deal to protect nature in Montreal, Canada, governments are split over how to stop subsidising harmful activities like unsustainable fisheries and agriculture.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A report commissioned by Business for Nature estimates $1.8 trillion<\/a> is spent each year on subsidising destructive activities for nature such as the growth of fossil fuels, monocultures and overfishing.<\/p>\n

The European Union has backed a proposal at the Cop15 biodiversity summit to redirect harmful subsidies towards activities that protect nature, as well as eliminating harmful subsidies by 2025. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a priority, existing resources need to be used more effectively, including by aligning all financial flows with nature-positive objectives and by addressing harmful subsidies,\u201d said the European bloc in a statement<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

UN nature pact<\/strong> nears its \u2018Copenhagen or Paris\u2019 moment<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Countries like India and Japan have opposed entirely eradicating subsidies. India\u2019s lead negotiator, Vinod Matur, told Carbon Copy<\/span><\/a> the country\u2019s farmers \u201cwho are poor and disadvantaged need both social and economic support\u201d. Japan pushed<\/a> to remove references to agricultural and fishing subsidies in the lead up to the negotiations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Argentina, one of the world\u2019s largest meat producers, supported the elimination of harmful subsidies but questioned the world\u2019s capacity to actually redirect them, considering it a form of \u201ccreative accounting\u201d to justify current subsidies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One Latin American negotiator, who wished to remain anonymous criticised the EU’s position. \u201cWe think the situation is concerning. We think the lack of flexibility of some developed countries is particularly worrying,\u201d they said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sweating the small stuff<\/h3>\n

It is a key battleground this week when the issue is formally discussed in plenary negotiations, said Costa Rica’s lead negotiator Eugenia Arguedas. Costa Rica is chairing a coalition to protect 30% of the planet\u2019s land and water ecosystems by 2030.<\/span><\/p>\n

Li Lin, senior director of policy and advocacy at WWF, added that countries focused on “minutiae” during the first week of talks, leaving the “big-ticket items” to the second week. “They have left themselves a lot to do in the next few days,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost 200 countries have gathered in Montreal to negotiate the world\u2019s strategy to reverse biodiversity loss and protect the globe\u2019s frail remaining ecosystems, which are key to stopping climate change.<\/span><\/p>\n

A recent <\/span>UN scientific report<\/span><\/a> warned that at least a million species are threatened with extinction, an \u201cunprecedented\u201d decline in all of human history. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n