What does Cop15’s buzzword ‘nature positive’ mean?

Science Weekly

The Guardian

Science

4.2 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 December 2022

⏱️ 14 minutes

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Summary

A historic deal has been struck at the UN’s biodiversity conference, Cop15, which will set a course for nature recovery from now until 2050, including a target to protect 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade. One of the key phrases guiding the summit across the two weeks of negotiations was ‘nature positive’. Madeleine Finlay hears from the biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston about what ‘nature positive’ meant at Cop15, and what she’d like to see from countries now the final agreement has been made, and speaks to biodiversity professor EJ Milner-Gulland about how to stop the term ‘nature positive’ becoming another way for companies to greenwash their businesses.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Guardian. Net zero.
0:15.0	Most of us will have heard the phrase, the balance between the carbon emissions emitted and the
0:20.5	amount removed from the atmosphere.
0:23.0	Well now, there's a new phrase that's hoping to do the same for biodiversity,
0:29.0	even going beyond cancelling out our damage to the planet.
0:33.0	Nature positive.
0:35.0	It's a motto that's been everywhere at COP15,
0:39.0	the UN's Biodiversity Conference in Montreal,
0:42.0	whether on posters, session headings, by Diversity Conference in Montreal.
0:42.8	Whether on posters, session headings, or businesses marketing materials, it's the buzzword
0:48.3	of the moment.
0:50.1	But what does Nature positive actually mean?
0:53.6	I don't know.
0:55.1	Don't know.
0:56.1	What's that?
0:57.1	Nature positive?
0:58.7	Yeah. Yeah.
0:59.7	It's very, very not very clear.
1:02.1	Plus nature. It's easy. Nature plus.
1:06.0	Is it like being positive to nature or trying to protect biodiversity, something like that.
1:14.0	And could it be turned into another greenwashing tactic?
1:19.0	From the Guardian, I'm Madeline Finley, and this is Science Weekly.
	...

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