Washington hasn’t signed a 30-year-old pact, leaving Biden’s envoy in the role of ‘influencer’ in Montreal
, Monica Medina, the assistant secretary of state for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs, to represent the US in Montreal , which is considered a sign the Biden administration takes the issue seriously. “I hope someday we’ll be a member of the CBD Cop but in the meantime we are being as constructive as we can be … it’s not stopping us from making contributions,” Medina told journalists.
The main issue the US has been outspoken about is the headline target of 30x30, protecting 30% of the land and oceans by 2030, which it is pushing domestically as part of itsinitiative. “We are very much a member of the community on this planet that cares about the 30x30 framework. We have made this commitment domestically as well as globally,” Medina told delegates at Cop15. Campaign posters around the conference centre promoting 30x30 are sponsored by the US-based Wyss Foundation.
In the first week of Cop15, the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, urged the “big five” countries – Russia, Canada, China, the US and Brazil – to adopt the 30x30 target to make it as effective as possible. He said that despite the US not being party to talks, “they’re very much present and being helpful in all the ways they can. But they’re an interesting asterisk.”
In terms of nature finance, the US is a major donor. It pledged $600m to the Global Environment Facility, the main UN fund for climate and biodiversity, over the next four years. USAid funding for biodiversity is growing, with $385m used for biodiversity funding in 2022. This is an $80m increase on the previous year. “We are one of the largest funders of biodiversity protection in the world,” said Medina.
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