QS What concrete progress was made during the COP for biodiversity?
JD Even if only 15% of countries presented their strategy [pour atteindre leurs cibles]those who did so demonstrated true leadership. Achieving the 23 targets of the global biodiversity framework is an immense challenge, because they affect issues as varied as human health, finance and land protection.
Among these targets, the “30 x 30” which aims to protect 30% of territories by 2030 is the best known, but it is only one target among the 23. For a country, or even for a government like Quebec, developing a plan structured around these 23 objectives represents a colossal job.
Another positive point: the great diversity of the participants. The COP is not just a matter of government delegations. It is a gathering that includes civil society, the scientific community, First Nations and the financial sector. Seeing so many people from different fields engaged in responding to the biodiversity crisis is a promising sign. I was also impressed by Quebec’s leadership during this COP. Despite a relatively modest delegation and limited resources, Quebec stood out and moved things forward significantly, even more than certain countries. We can be proud!
QS Were there things that stagnated during the COP?
JD Funding came up a lot. Implementing strategies for biodiversity requires considerable financial resources. Rich countries can reallocate their budgets, but for developing countries this is a challenge. This is why the Kunming-Montreal agreement provides for a financing plan with the objective of supplying the Global Biodiversity Fund with $200 billion per year to support these countries.
However, not a lot of money was raised. Negotiations were unsuccessful on the management of financing. Without a financial framework, the global biodiversity agreement will be difficult to implement in several countries.
QS What could encourage countries to invest more in biodiversity?
JD First, countries have made commitments to biodiversity and sticking to them should be incentive enough. If a country fails to meet its targets, it sends a strong message to its own population.
I will draw a parallel with the climate change agreement. Canada is a signatory to all the climate conventions, but we have never achieved our goals. This fuels a certain form of cynicism in the population and affects politics. Rich countries also have a historical responsibility. They developed largely thanks to the resources of developing countries.
It’s the same thing for biodiversity: we benefit from the benefits linked to biodiversity, particularly in the pharmaceutical field where around half of medicines come from nature. These resources generate capital which returns to rich countries, hence this responsibility to contribute to the preservation of global biodiversity.
Finally, there is a global public health imperative. Our well-being depends on the health of our ecosystems. So, if we do not protect the Amazon or the great forests of the Congo which inhabit this planet, sooner or later, this also generates consequences for human health.
QS Do you believe we will achieve the goal of protecting 30% of biodiversity by 2030?
JD It is very difficult to say with the varied realities of the 196 signatory countries. I see as many very good things as others which are progressing at a pace incompatible with the 2030 objective.
Quebec is well positioned to achieve this objective. The current government allocates resources for acquisition, mobilization, research and knowledge linked to the territory. We are also delving deeper into the types of protected areas to be set up. If I look at Quebec’s progress, I am quite confident that the objective will be achieved by 2030, which would position us among the leaders.
That said, it is not enough to simply aim for “an easy 30%” by choosing the most obvious gains. Real progress is based on informed choices, anchored in science, in a territorial reality, in respect for human rights and the rights of First Nations. You should not fall into the trap of hitting the target of a number. As a scientist and activist, I prefer to see a country admit that the 2030 deadline is too ambitious, but that it moves forward by identifying areas to protect.
QS Could the election of Trump in the United States complicate the task of achieving the COP, climate and biodiversity objectives?
JD It is a shame that countries as powerful and influential as the United States are not more engaged on climate and biodiversity issues. But we can’t tell them what to do either.
On the other hand, we can construct a sort of geopolitics of biodiversity. In the United States, power is shared between states and cities. For example, the development of Hydro-Québec in the northeastern United States was achieved thanks to the states’ ambitious sustainable development policies. This shows that all subnational actors [municipalités, provinces, régions…] can in some way replace a lack of national leadership.
QS At the COP, have you heard about new initiatives, collaborations or innovative projects to strengthen conservation efforts?
JD Two things caught my attention. The voice of First Nations and indigenous peoples has been particularly strong, especially around economic issues related to biodiversity. There were discussions on the economics of biodiversity genetics, including bioprospecting and the pharmaceutical industry. The results are not completely satisfactory, but this discussion opens the way to the recognition of traditional knowledge linked to the biodiversity of a territory. If there are economic benefits, this should return to these communities to allow them to develop, conserve and manage the territory.
The other important point concerns the sustainable finance ecosystem. In Montreal, there were many players such as institutional investors, large banks and pension funds, who had demonstrated their interest in the conservation of biodiversity. Two years later, I see that many concrete projects have been presented. For example, we are seeing the emergence of mixed finance tools where money is not a goal, but a positive investment for nature. This brings a lot of optimism.
QS How do you manage to stay positive in the face of the biodiversity crisis?
JD The figures are alarming, but we must not be immobile in the face of the situation. We must believe that it is possible to transform things. There is a global mobilization – governments, businesses, scientists – fighting this crisis. You have to have confidence that you will succeed in doing good things. We must stop destroying ecosystems and subsidizing harmful practices.
I still remain realistic. But at the same time, I think we have this duty, this responsibility to roll up our sleeves and see what we can do with the situation before us.
QS You are participating in a project in Guinea called Women Pro-Forestswhich aims to help women adapt to climate change. Can you tell us more?
JD It is an international development project funded by Global Affairs Canada, co-directed by my research chair and the international development component of the Union of Agricultural Producers of Quebec. The objective is to combine sustainable agriculture, adaptation to climate change and women’s empowerment. The project is being implemented with local groups in Guinea, in the Middle Bafing National Park, which is home to endangered chimpanzees, and the buffer zone surrounding it.
For this project, we developed biodiversity indicators. It’s a bit technical, but includes data capture capabilities, workflows, modeling, document reporting, and algorithms.
There is potential to reuse all of this elsewhere in Guinea, in a national strategy for the protection of natural environments. And at the COP, we announced that we were donating all these models and data to the government of Guinea to empower them in the development of their “30 by 30” strategy. [protéger 30% des terres et des océans d’ici 2030].
I said in my speech that this represents tangible proof of why we do this job as scientists. Our tools really help people who are grappling with decisions about which ecosystems to protect. There was also a lot of emotion on the side of the Guinean government. Teams which did not have these capacities, which were faced with international constraints, will finally have the right tools to achieve global standards.
Photo: Kika Tuff
