Cop15 diary: delegates grapple with masks, snoods and meaningful action

The inside story of what happened on the first two days of the biodiversity summit in MontrealWednesday, 7 DecemberCanadian prime minister Justin Trudeau's pledge of C$800m (?510m) over seven years to support Indigenous-led conservation projects was preceded by a ceremony led by the First Nations Elder, Ka'nahsohon Kevin Deer. It made a change from the day before when Trudeau was interrupted by Indigenous protesters at the opening ceremony.The UN secretary general António Guterres spoke powerfully about the need to protect the rights of environment protesters, saying "human rights must be at the centre of all environmental concerns and namely, the work of the [UN convention on biodiversity] CBD".A new draft text of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is littered with more than 1,000 brackets, which will need dealing with over the next two weeks. The text has been described as a "mess", with many concerned about the amount that still needs to be done.Despite more than 20 targets being negotiated, the 30x30 goal to protect 30% of land and oceans by 2030 is stealing the limelight. As delegates arrived at Montreal airport, there was no escaping the slew of posters promoting the ambition.Both Canada and China have given delegates welcome bags - the former contained a snood, and the latter, a silk scarf and tea. Masks are also back and each day delegates are taking Covid tests in order to get into the conference centre.The EU representative Ladislav Miko criticised Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying it brings about "long-term environmental degradation". Russian delegate Denis Rebrikov responded by saying the subject should be outside the scope of the biodiversity summit. "It's hard to avoid the impression that these countries are deliberately trying to sabotage the adoption of a global framework," he said.It's currently 3C in Montreal and some delegates are struggling with the cold. One was seen wearing a thick coat and woolly hat with headphones over the top in the main plenary hall. Continue reading...