What is COP15 and What Should We Pray For?
Last month Michael wrote about the Climate emergency and his hopes for the UN Conference
of the Parties on Climate at COP27. This month government leaders will gather in Montreal,
Canada for another important and related conference. On December 7th the participants of the
UN Convention on Biodiversity will meet for the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15). The
aim of this convention is to maintain and restore biodiversity around the world. Biological
diversity is about more than plants, animals and micro organisms and their ecosystems – it is
about people and our need for food security, medicines, fresh air and water, shelter, and a clean
and healthy environment in which to live. The ambitious Post-2020 Global Biodiversity
Framework, put forward at a previous COP, included targeting 30 percent of lands and 30% of
oceans conserved by 2030. Halting and reversing biodiversity loss will require real collaboration
and partnership, including with Indigenous Peoples, the original guardians of the land. A
network of organisations in the UK are pressing for net gain with the 30% by 2030 target for
wildlife enshrined in an Ecology and Climate bill currently in parliament. If the UK wants to be a
world leader on climate and nature, it must ensure it is taking the same action at home it is
encouraging others to take internationally. Our life is inextricably bound with all life on the planet
including plants, insects and fungi. To find out more about the importance of insects watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atoF79Eizfk
During the conference which runs from 7th to 19th December please pray
• for the delegates that they will agree a landmark legally-binding global treaty to halt and
reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.
• for all governments to make real transformative change, innovation, and a proper
accounting for the true value of nature in decision-making across all sectors.
• that the UK government will stick to the 2019 manifesto commitment and work for the
good of nature and bring the 30% by 2030 target into law.
• that the church, PCC and all who attend All Saints Milton consider what we can
practically do to encourage greater biodiversity in the church, churchyard, community
spaces and our own homes, gardens and window boxes.