Hugo Šallī, the European Union's chief negotiator on the UN treaty aimed at halting the loss of biodiversity, denies that postponing the entry into force of the Deforestation Regulation a few weeks before a major summit in Colombia undermines confidence in the EU's plans.

“The European Commission's proposal to postpone the implementation of the Deforestation Regulation will not jeopardise Europe's position in the forthcoming UN biodiversity negotiations,” says H. Šallī, stressing that the delay is merely an acknowledgement that preparatory work with trading partners needs to continue.

The 16th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will be held this month in the Colombian city of Cali. It is the first conference at this level since the “decisive” COP15 in Montreal two years ago, which adopted the Global Biodiversity Framework and agreed to grant protected status to 30% of land and sea areas by 2030 and to begin restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems.

Three weeks before the Cali meeting, Europe gave in to pressure from business groups and trading partners – particularly the United States and Brazil – which especially outraged environmental protection groups. There were calls to postpone the entry into force of the so-called Deforestation Regulation (in order to gain access to the European market, the regulation “requires” proof that no deforestation has taken place).

“What you have seen today is an acknowledgement that more work and more time is needed in cooperation with our partners. Only in that way will we secure the intended impact of the regulation,” stressed Hugo Šallī, head of the European Union's negotiating team; his statement came a few hours after the European Commission announced the postponement of the regulation.

“As regards our credibility, I want to stress that we – in terms of our overall work programme relating to nature and biodiversity – are on the right track,” Hugo Šallī explained during a discussion in Brussels, recalling that the Nature Restoration Law, which prompted very lively debate, entered into force in September.

“I think this [law] will show that we are ready to do in Europe what we hope everyone in the world will do in order to meet the global biodiversity conservation targets,” said H. Šallī

Briefing members of the European Parliament's Environment Committee, H. Šallī also heard criticism of the decision to postpone the entry into force of the Deforestation Regulation. “The delay does not change any of the core obligations,” he stressed, adding that there is nothing wrong with postponing the date on which the regulation takes effect as long as none of the core obligations are changed.

“The adoption of the Nature Restoration Regulation was “watched very closely” around the world,” noted H. Šallī. “Had we not adopted it, the European Union would have lost a great deal of its international reputation.”

At an event organised by the UN, the European Commission and Colombian diplomats, speakers stressed the inseparable link between the loss of biodiversity and climate change, which will be discussed in November at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Colombia, which wants biodiversity to be brought to the forefront of the global agenda alongside climate change, expects at least a dozen heads of state to attend the summit, including Brazilian President Luiss Ignasio Lula da Silva (Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva), as well as environment ministers from more than a hundred countries. Colombia has billed the summit as an opportunity for the world to “make peace with nature”.

The central issue at this year's summit will be the fair sharing of the benefits of genetic resources, and in particular of information from biodiverse ecosystems (which could be used in biotechnology and medicine), said Colombia's chargé d'affaires in Brussels, Kamila Polo Floresa (Camila Polo Florez) .

K. Floresa recalled the https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ Colombia and Germany launched in December 2022, which aims to help developing countries implement their national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs). The plans have to be drawn up by the parties to the so-called global framework. France, Spain, Canada and China are now also among the members of the partnership.

As in the parallel negotiations on climate change, finance will also be one of the central issues at the Cali conference. Under the VGF, developed countries must provide developing countries with 20 billion US dollars a year by 2025, and by 2030 – 30 billion dollars a year.

The head of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment, Florika Finka-Hoijere (Florika Fink-Hooijer), stressed in a video message that Europe is ready to pay its share: “The European Union will honour its commitment to double external funding for biodiversity, referring to the decision to allocate 7 billion euros from the European Union's 2021-2027 budget.”