EJN 2022 Biodiversity Fellowships for Journalists to Cover the UN Biodiversity Conference (UNCBD COP15) in Montreal, Canada

Delegates from 195 nations will gather at the upcoming 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, to be held in Montreal, Canada from December 7 to 19, 2022. This COP is a particularly important one, as Parties look to adopt the “Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework” which has been much-delayed and rescheduled following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The need for urgent action is clear: The deepening biodiversity crisis, often described as the “sixth mass extinction”, is characterized by a species extinction rate estimated to be ~1000 times higher than natural extinction rates. Scientists have long warned these losses will lead to a catastrophic collapse of the “natural ecosystems we rely upon to survive”, and the window of opportunity to curb this decline is rapidly closing.  The Framework – once agreed upon in Montreal – should outline what countries need to do, individually and collectively, in the next decade and beyond, to achieve the CBD’s overall vision of “living in harmony with nature” by 2050. Meetings of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing will also take place concurrently. This opportunity is intended to enable journalists from low- and middle-income countries to cover the UN CBD negotiations, keeping their home audiences informed about COP15 – and report why its outcomes matter. The fellowship, supported by Arcadia – a charitable fund of Peter Baldwin and Lisbet Rausing, will strengthen journalists’ capacity to report on biodiversity issues and equip the public and policymakers with the information they need to address the drivers of biodiversity loss.