Pairs: Turkiye, which is still recovering from a series of devastating earthquakes this year, has reportedly said it cannot host a significant UN biodiversity meeting in 2024.
According to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the Turkish government decided not to take the COP16 meeting's chairmanship "due to a force majeure situation created by the three destructive earthquakes that occurred in February 2023."
The historic agreement reached at talks last year to protect Earth's lands, oceans, and species from pollution, deterioration, and the climate crisis will be expanded upon during the COP16 talks.
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The more than 190 nations that are a part of the UN biodiversity process came to that agreement, which has been hailed as "a peace pact with nature" and is comparable to the historic Paris climate deal.
Turkiye "expressed its regrets" about the decision to step down from leadership of the talks, the CBD stated in a letter posted on its website this week. The talks are currently scheduled to take place from October 21 to November 1 of next year.
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It declared that it would seek out offers from other nations to intervene.
The agreement from last year was the result of four years of at times contentious negotiations that were hampered by the pandemic, during which time pledges were made to secure 30% of the planet as a protected zone by 2030.
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The final negotiations in Canada were presided over by the host nation, China.