The following UN biodiversity chief can be Astrid Schomaker, an EU civil servant who can be entrusted with serving to the world confront the continuing catastrophic lack of nature.
Schomaker has been a profession official with the EU fee for 30 years. A shock appointment, she can be tasked with corralling governments to make good on their commitments to guard life on Earth – one thing they haven’t achieved in additional than 30 years for the reason that UN biodiversity conference was created.
The German official is anticipated to take cost of the Conference on Organic Range (CBD) this yr, forward of the Cop16 summit in Cali, Colombia, the place governments will collect for the primary time since setting this decade’s biodiversity targets.
In December 2022, each state other than the US and Vatican reached a deal on the Cop15 summit in Montreal to halt the destruction of the Earth’s ecosystems, agreeing on 23 targets together with defending 30% of Earth for nature, phasing out or reforming $500bn (£400bn) of environmentally dangerous subsidies, and restoring 30% of the planet’s degraded ecosystems.
However the measures have confronted a powerful backlash, regardless of scientific warnings that the biodiversity disaster may drive one million species to extinction and endanger human civilisations. This yr, for instance, the EU dropped plans to halve using pesticides after farmers throughout Europe protested in opposition to new EU proposals on emissions, use of chemical substances and nutrient runoff.
Schomaker’s appointment was introduced by the UN secretary basic, António Guterres, on Tuesday after an intensive interview course of. She replaces the previous UN biodiversity chief Elizabeth Maruma Mrema greater than a yr after Mrema left the publish, which has been stuffed by the appearing chief, David Cooper.
Guterres praised Schomaker, who has additionally led the European Fee’s divisions for marine and freshwater points, for her expertise in worldwide negotiations and data of world environmental points.
Ariel Brunner, director of BirdLife Europe, stated Schomaker would want to assist persuade the remainder of the world that the EU remained credible on worldwide points.
“I congratulate Astrid for the appointment and want her luck in convincing nationwide governments that biodiversity is a matter of nationwide survival. The EU has all the time been the driving pressure behind the CBD, however in the meanwhile it’s defaulting on most of its commitments,” he stated.
“Astrid might want to persuade the remainder of the world that the EU remains to be a reputable companion – and persuade the EU to truly be one,” he stated.
