“Nature still speaks with a mighty voice.”
Mosi-oa-Tunya—the smoke that thunders—describes the sound and mist created by the plunge of the Zambezi River into the chasm below. Visible in the distance from the venue, the mists reminded delegates at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramar Convention on Wetlands (COP15) what is possible when water is respected and protected.
The 134 contracting parties present faced a familiar yet increasingly urgent challenge—how to scale ambition to match the scope and pace of wetland loss worldwide. The Global Wetland Outlook 2025 reported that nearly a third of wetlands have been lost due to degradation since the 1970s; and by 2050, another 25% will disappear without more effective action. With this in mind, the meeting opened with calls to align the Convention with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), agree on a strategic plan to guide the next decade, and fund its work in line with its mandate.
This brief analysis explores how ambition at COP15 was expressed, negotiated, and constrained, through the lens of strategic direction, implementation, and finance.
Don’t miss out – check out the summary report, 23 – 31 July 2025 for all the details: Click here