The Colombian president, Gustavo Petroquestioned the low participation of heads of state at the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP16), held in Cali.
During the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor of the OAS, in Bogotá, Petro highlighted the importance of the summit by quoting the New York Times, which described it as “the most important in history on biodiversity.” However, he regretted the absence of leaders from the region, including key leaders such as Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil. “The people have gathered, the rulers have not,” he stated.
You might be interested in: Gustavo Petro accuses Pegasus of laundering 11 million dollars
Despite the expectations generated by the Minister of the Environment, Susana Muhammad, who in September mentioned the participation of presidents such as Lula and Claudia Sheinbaum, the summit has been marked by the presence of ministers and environmental authorities, rather than state leaders. According to the Foreign Ministry, five top authorities from international organizations and more than 110 ministers attended the conference.
In the context of COP16, a forum dedicated to the recognition of people of African descent in biodiversity negotiations was also held. The vice president of Colombia, Francia Márquez, described the demand for inclusion of these groups in the negotiating bodies as a “historic milestone.”
You might be interested in: Lula expresses solidarity with Petro after accusations
The forum, led by Colombia and Brazil, proposed that the “Afro-descendant” category be recognized within the biological diversity agreement, whose approval will be debated in plenary.
EAM