Jubilee Post News & Views
We are losing biodiversity faster than any other time in human history, and desperately need a globally agreed framework to reverse this – action on nature can contribute around ⅓ of the solution to climate change.The UN Bio-Diversity Conference(CBD), was one of the Rio Conventions that was created in 1992 alongside the UNFCCC.
The first part of UN Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD) opens this week( 11-15 Oct,2021) in Kunming, China, virtually. To start the process towards a Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. This marks the start of a process when the final text will be negotiated and requires ambitious targets on protecting biodiversity, implementation mechanisms including accountability, and funding to ensure that low income countries have the ability and capacity to deliver on those targets. The last set of global biodiversity targets were all missed, but biodiversity loss is only accelerating, and we urgently need a globally agreed framework to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. This is a big moment on the global environmental stage for China – who take over as hosts of the CBD at the summit.
It is China’s first time hosting an environmental summit, and it will signal their intent to achieve an ambitious deal for nature. All eyes are on Kunming to see if China can step up to the challenge and use their diplomatic weight to get a successful outcome.
Long term goal: In 2002, the CBD parties adopted a ‘strategic plan’ to ‘achieve by 2010 , a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss . The targets were not listed out in any detail, and contained no reliable indicators or implementation mechanisms, and the aim failed.
2020 Targets: At COP10, in Nagoya, Japan in 2010, the parties signed up to a new strategic plan from 2011-2020, including the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. This was much more detailed than the 2002 strategic plan, and broke the ‘effectively halt biodiversity loss’ part of the 2002 strategic plan down into several parts, including addressing underlying causes of biodiversity loss and mainstreaming biodiversity into government policies and development planning. There were 20 targets in all, which were more itemised but lacking in measurable indicators or baselines. These targets are judged to have all failed.
Genetic resource management: Also at Nagoya, the parties adopted the Nagoya Protocol, to formalise and simplify the ABS processes (the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from genetic resources). The idea was to make conditions for access to genetic resources more predictable, and ensure that when genetic material leaves a country, that country is reimbursed / rewarded properly. However, these conditions rely on individual countries creating systems for access, and bilaterally agreeing to an arrangement.
2021 expectations: One of the major outcomes expected at the CBD( convention on Biological Diversity) & COP15 ( UN convention on climate change) is to agree a post- 2020 framework of goals and policies (the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework) that will build on the Aichi Targets, since they were supposed to be achieved by 2020. The delay means that we are entering the 2020s decade without a post-2020 framework in place.
What will be negotiated at CBD COP15?
CBD COP15 aims to adopt a Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to reverse biodiversity loss globally, as a stepping stone to the 2050 goal of ‘Living in Harmony with Nature’. There are several key components that will be negotiated:
Targets: New, measurable biodiversity targets which will be enough to halt biodiversity loss and even reverse biodiversity decline.
The natural world is often referred to as 100 million years of evolution and coexistence. Essentially, the planet has gradually evolved to be the most efficient it can be, with all species interacting to continually recycle and replenish the natural world.
The nature crisis is about the integrity of the ecosystems that we live in. There are many different ecosystems with different needs, and removing one part (species) from an ecosystem can irrevocably damage the entire ecosystem upon which communities depend.
Natural interactions are complex, varied and subtle, so much so that the risks in damaging ecosystems or species are not easily visible or understood.
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Frequently, we can only understand the risks after seeing the ecological consequences, which take a long time to manifest. There are significant tipping points to nature damage, after which it is difficult to return because the composite parts are missing.
Biodiversity loss is caused by many factors: intensive agriculture, deforestation, pesticides and chemical fertilizers, building infrastructure, invasive species, all the different types of pollution . The mechanisms agreed at CBD will therefore have an impact on how climate finance aimed at nature-based solutions is used. Importantly, as aid budgets and other funding have been slashed in the wake of Covid-19 economic turn down,climate finance and nature finance will be coming from the same pot. It is crucial that mechanisms agreed at both COPs deliver benefits for climate, nature and, most importantly, people. Therefore, collaboration between UNFCCC COP26 and CBD COP15 is important for successful outcomes.
