NES meets COP15 President

NES Biodiversity Co-ordinator, Jessie Nicholson, a member of the Cook Islands delegation attending the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal, Canada, had the opportunity to meet with the COP15 President, Huang Runqui. President Runqiu, who is also the Minister of Ecology and Environment for China, met with representatives of the Asia Pacific region on the morning of Friday 9th December 2022 to discuss ways forward for the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which is currently undergoing negotiations at COP15.

Nicholson was one of the six delegates selected to meet with the President, and represented the 14 Pacific island countries of the region who are a Party to the Convention. “This was a great honour. Not only did I meet the President of COP15, at my first COP nonetheless, I was also representing my fellow Pacific colleagues to be the mouthpiece of our collective One Pacific voice. It was great to see that our priorities and concerns were taken on board by the President and his team”, Nicholson said. Negotiations on the GBF at COP15 will continue until Monday 19th December 2022.