Jakarta – The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a UN-backed convention with the objective of the biodiversity conservation, begins a two week meeting in Geneva, Monday (14/3), ahead of the a major meeting of its governing body in Kunming China next month, with the aim to reach an international agreement in biodiversity protection.
“The Kunming Declaration provides us with clear political direction, with a commitment to negotiating a post-2020 global biodiversity framework that can effectively bend the curve of biodiversity loss and is accompanied by the necessary resources and an effective mechanism for monitoring and reviewing its progress,” CBD Executive Secretary Elizabeth Maruma Mrema said in her opening speech.
CBD’s fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) split its COP meeting in Kunming, China, into two — one in October 11-15, 2021 which was held online and the second part April 25 – May 8, 2022 will be held both online and offline. The Kunming Declaration outlines general targets for the restoration and protection of biodiversity and was adopted by over 100 countries at the first part of CBD COP15.
The meeting comes shortly after a recent IPCC report highlighted biodiversity’s role in response to climate change. The report “recognizes the interdependence of climate, biodiversity and people and integrates natural, social and economic sciences more strongly than earlier IPCC assessments … (and) emphasizes the urgency of immediate and more ambitious action to address climate risks. Half measures are no longer an option,” said IPCC chair Hoesung Lee at the report release in February.
The Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report assesses the impacts of climate change, looking at ecosystems, biodiversity, and human communities at global and regional levels. It also reviews vulnerabilities and the capacities and limits of the natural world and human societies to adapt to climate change.
The two-week meeting in Geneva are the sessions of the twenty-fourth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, the third meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation, and the third meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
Greenpeace calls for action to increase land and sea protection to at least 30% by 2030 with clear funding and implementation, and to recognise and strengthen the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, as delegates gather at a pre-meeting for this year’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15 to be held in Kunming, China.
Mrema calls for countries to press on with the biodiversity protection and expedite the funding to do the work as “we have no time to waste. The Global Environment Facility, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme, is already taking action to fast-track support to governments to prepare for the rapid implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and China is developing modalities for the Kunming Biodiversity Fund.”
“We will be working in the shadow of a global pandemic, and military conflict. These are acute threats to peace and human well-being. At this time, I would like to recall and refer you to the statement of the United Nations Secretary-General to the United Nations General Assembly made on 23 February 2022, whereby he made it clear that any unilateral measures conflict directly with the United Nations Charter. He appealed to the countries to Stop the military operation. The United Nations Secretary-General is fully committed to support all efforts to resolve both these crises,” she said. (nsh)
Banner photo credit: @IISD_ENB Earth Negotiations Bulletin
@UNBiodiversity joint opening plenary in Geneva, regional groups stress in their statements the importance of resuming face-to-face meetings, and discuss their priorities for an ambitious, balanced #Post2020 global #biodiversity framework
