YEREVAN: Despite campaigning to host the next COP nature summit, Panama's Environment Minister Juan Carlos Navarro has a blunt view of the UN-led negotiations he says are little more than "hypocrisy contests".
"A lot of what's going on out here at the COP is just a bunch of baloney and beautiful speeches and BS," Navarro told AFP as diplomats thronged the halls at the COP17 biodiversity summit underway in Yerevan, Armenia.
It is an unorthodox message to broadcast as Panama bids against Ecuador to host the next edition of the biennial United Nations biodiversity negotiations in 2028.
There are only two candidates for COP18 and the winner could be announced this week in Yerevan, where nearly 200 nations are trying to salvage a stalling deal to protect nature.
Navarro, who has served in President Jose Raul Mulino's government since 2024, warned nobody should expect an easy ride if Panama ends up at the helm. "We're going to push them and shove them into action -- and if not, then leave," said the veteran conservationist and one-time presidential candidate.
"Because if the entire point of having the COPs is just blowing hot air, and in the meantime, let the planet burn, then why do it?"
'COPs designed to fail'
Navarro said that Panama wants to reform the consensus-based rules that allow "one idiot" to block agreement at the COP summits, proposing instead that decisions are taken by a majority.
"We cannot have -- we cannot expect -- a consensus between every nation on Earth on every topic. That's ridiculous. COPs have been designed to fail, and they are not disappointing," he said.
He also advocates for holding a single overarching UN conference "because the Earth is one" and the crises of climate, biodiversity and pollution cannot be tackled in isolation.
Despite this, Navarro has been active in Yerevan promoting Panama's hosting bid as a decision looms, eagerly shaking hands and passing around business cards made of biodegradable pulp.
He pointed to Panama's campaign for a UN declaration recognising the universal rights of nature, and its efforts at home to boost ranger numbers roughly seven-fold to ensure its national parks were genuinely protected.
Navarro praised those countries making a "great sacrifice" to safeguard their threatened ecosystems -- but said not enough were following their lead. "This just makes my blood boil, because while we fiddle, Rome burns," he said.
"So if the parties so decide -- and they come to Panama -- they better be prepared for action and immediate results on the ground."