[Episcopal News Service] The United Nations is three days into its annual biodiversity conference, and The Episcopal Church is participating for the first time as an observer organization.
Three Episcopalians – Colombia Bishop Elías García Cárdenas, Kansas Bishop Cathleen Bascom and the Rev. Luis Fernando López Chicaiza, a priest at Parroquia Episcopal Trinity Church in Santiago de Cali, Colombia – are in Santiago de Cali from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1 for the 16th U.N. Conference of the Parties on the Convention on Biological Diversity, often shortened to COP16. They are part of a delegation representing Presiding Bishop Michael Curry at COP16.
The 16th U.N. Conference of the Parties on the Convention on Biological Diversity is taking place Oct. 21 to Nov. 1, 2024, in Santiago de Cali, Colombia. Photo: United Nations
Four Episcopal Church staff members are also in Cali for the conference: Lynnaia Main, the church’s Representative to the United Nations; the Rev. Melanie Mullen, the church’s director of reconciliation, justice and creation care; Phoebe Chatfield, the church’s program associate for creation care and justice; and the Rev. Glenda McQueen, the church’s partnership officer for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Representatives from more than 175 countries, including a delegation of several dozen people from the U.S. State Department, are participating in COP16, which is expected to be the largest biodiversity conference in history.
“The Episcopal Church is proud to attend the COP16 Summit of Global Biodiversity, where our bishops and leaders in creation care will boldly represent our commitment to environmental stewardship,” Mullen told Episcopal News Service in an email. “We face a profound biodiversity crisis of loss and destruction around the world. Yet The Episcopal Church believes that the very world we steward is essential to our well-being.”
This year’s conference theme is “Peace with Nature,” recognizing that humans must transform their relationship with nature by improving production and consumption practices to promote ecosystems rather than destroy them.
“By engaging in this dialogue, we aspire to inspire loving, liberating and life-giving relationships with the earth, leading the way in transformative conversations with both U.S. and global leaders,” Mullen said.
The biodiversity conference is different from the U.N.’s annual climate change conference, which will take place in late November and early December in Baku, Azerbaijan. The biodiversity conference focuses on protecting and preserving all life on earth, including animals, plants and microorganisms. The climate change conference, on the other hand, focuses on limiting the rise of Earth’s surface temperature to reduce the frequency of extreme weather events, including hurricanes, wildfires, severe rain events, increased flooding and heatwaves.
Climate change is among several factors leading to the rapid decline of Earth’s biodiversity. Overfishing, poaching and habitat loss when land is taken for agriculture are other factors, which have left more than 1 million animals on the brink of extinction. Human population growth is a central factor because of the increased need for infrastructure and converting natural habitats for agriculture, which have significantly reduced space for wildlife to thrive.
In 2022, 196 countries signed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at COP15 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which lists 23 targets to be met by 2030 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Ahead of this year’s COP conference, countries had to submit plans to demonstrate how they intend to meet the 23 targets.
One of those targets, called the 30×30 target, is to ensure that 30% of land and water are conserved by 2030. At The Episcopal Church’s 81st General Convention in June in Louisville, Kentucky, the House of Bishops and House of Deputies passed D029, “Commit to the 30×30 Initiative for Biodiversity,” which directs all Episcopal institutions to adopt, support and promote the 30×30 target.
“Our dioceses are eager to make creation care their own, equipping themselves with the necessary tools to enact critical changes in local ecology,” Mullen said.
-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.