About the Session
At the end of 2021, countries will agree on the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, setting us on a path towards the 2050 vision of “Living in Harmony with Nature”. Achieving the goals of the framework requires broad-based actions across all sectors of society. Implementation of the framework mainly takes place at a national level – but also at subnational and regional levels. Cities and municipalities will play a leading role in bringing together the conservation of biodiversity and securing the well-being of people. Indigenous peoples and local communities, stewards of lands that harbor a large proportion of the globe’s biodiversity, are important partners in conserving biodiversity and using nature sustainably.
On the virtual stage of the World Biodiversity Forum, this event saw panelists discuss how, at different levels of (sub)national and local governance, synergies can be created to achieve the biodiversity goals as well as the Sustainable Development Goals, and how collaborations and partnerships with non-state actors can be forged in this Decade of Action.
UN Sustainable Development Goals Addressed
Context
In this context, the Presidencies of COP14 and COP15 launched in 2018, the Sharm El Sheikh to Kunming Action Agenda for Nature and People ( https://www.cbd.int/action-agenda/) to offer opportunities for non-state actors to collaborate, with ideas and solutions, to accelerate systemic interventions to help reach biodiversity goals, and enhance multi-stakeholder approaches in support of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, to be adopted at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15).
Call to Action
The business sector, sub-national, and local governments, and civil society must be part of the conversation because what is under discussion and what is agreed in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework will need to be mainstreamed at the economic and policy levels, globally and nationally. For change to happen in this decade, the multilateral processes will need to be rooted in the principles of inclusiveness and openness.
Event Speakers
- Mr. Oliver Hillel, United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity
- Dr. Cornelia Krug, World Biodiversity Forum, University of Zurich
- Mr. Bongani Mnisi, City of Cape Town
- Dr. Eva Spehn, Swiss Biodiversity Forum
- Mr. Marcel Kok, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
- Mr. Christian Schwarzer, Global Youth Biodiversity Network
