New Straits Times

December 29, 2020
Two United Nations (UN) mega meetings on biodiversity and climate change next year are expected to set new targets and reaffirm old pledges.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has scheduled its 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, the United Kingdom, a summit that will serve as a de facto deadline for countries to increase their 2030 goals under the Paris Climate Agreement. 

Meanwhile, talks are underway on revised global targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), scheduled for agreement in Kunming, China, at the 15th meeting of the convention's member nations (COP15).

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Xinhua Net

December 16, 2020
Multilateral institutions and governments should harness traditional knowledge, practices and innovations possessed by indigenous people in order to revitalize the biodiversity conservation agenda, experts said on Tuesday evening.

Speaking at a virtual forum for indigenous communities' leaders from Asia, Africa, Caribbean and Latin America, the experts said that forest dwellers, hunter-gatherers and nomads are endowed with expertise that can be tapped to strengthen protection of habitats.

"We need to recognize the contribution of indigenous people to the global conservation agenda," said Viviana Figueroa, a legal expert from International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity.

Figuero said that indigenous communities have for centuries demonstrated prowess in conserving biodiversity hotspots that underpin global food, energy and water security.

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EFE Verde

December 15, 2020
Leaders and representatives of indigenous peoples have asked this Wednesday that the aspirations and ambitions of their peoples be included, recognized and integrated in the process of drawing up the Biodiversity Treaty of the United Nations Convention on the Biological Diversity (CBD).

According to the leaders at the virtual press conference, the zero draft of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework - which will be adopted next year at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the CBD and will set the global agenda for the next 30 years with the objective of guaranteeing the protection of nature - it does not reflect or take into account the aspirations of indigenous peoples.  

"We ask the States to advance in this treaty and recognize the rights, contributions (of indigenous peoples) and our health and sovereignty systems," said the coordinator of the Program for the Management of Natural Resources with Indigenous Peoples of Central America, Ramiro Batzin.

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China Dialogue

October 8, 2020
Originally scheduled as a last push for world leaders to connect before the COP15 negotiations on a global deal for nature protection, the ongoing pandemic downgraded the UN’s biodiversity summit into more of a push of the reset button.

The meeting, streamed live from New York, featured speeches by more than 100 heads of state, and other dignitaries including Prince Charles and chiefs of multiple UN bodies.

The summit was preceded by the launch of the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature, a high-level initiative to commit to reverse nature loss by the end of the decade. The text of the pledge stresses the links between climate change, nature degradation, human health, poverty and inequality, and economic security.

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Eureporter

October 2, 2020
On 30 September President Ursula von der Leyen represented the EU at the UN Biodiversity Summit in New York which brings together world leaders to step up global actions for nature and confirm their determination in agreeing a new ambitious global biodiversity framework at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, planned for 2021.

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Campaign For Nature

September 17, 2020
Today, The Paulson Institute, The Nature Conservancy and Cornell University released a major new report, “Financing Nature: Closing the Global Biodiversity Financing Gap.” This is the most in-depth and comprehensive analysis ever completed about biodiversity financing. Timed in conjunction with the run-up to the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the report highlights the total investment needed to fund biodiversity conservation around the world and identifies the actions that must be taken by the public and private sector in order to reach that level of investment.

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UNDP

September 2, 2020
To coincide with the 75th UN General Assembly, and leading up to the UN Biodiversity Summit, UNDP, UNEP, CBD and partners are creating a four-day Nature for Life Hub — a virtual space where global and local leaders will share stories on the importance of nature for sustainable development.

The Nature for Life Hub will invite a virtual audience to participate in thought-provoking exchanges, and will engage a wide variety of sectors, including governments, businesses, financial institutions, youth and local communities. Each day will culminate in key messages to be issued by the coalition of partners to be fed into the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework negotiation process, CBD COP 15 and Climate COP 26 negotiation processes.

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SDG Knowledge Hub

March 23, 2020

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, on 23 March 2020, CBD Acting Executive Secretary Elizabeth Mrema announced that the dates for this meeting would be adjusted. The meeting was originally scheduled to take place from 15-28 October 2020. 

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Dialogo Chino

March 16, 2020

This year’s packed agenda of negotiations on climate change, biodiversity and the global ocean was supposed to address the fortunes of a living world in a critical condition. But the coronavirus pandemic is forcing drastic changes to the schedule.

The Covid-19 virus, which has infected more than 170,000 people, has hit hardest China and European countries, where several key meetings for achieving new environmental commitments have already been cancelled or postponed. More are in doubt.

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The Nature Conservancy

March 5, 2020
The Earth is vast—but it is also finite. As human development has expanded to meet the needs of a growing population, far too much of nature has been lost or degraded. This degradation is a major driver of climate change as well as species loss—and both crises pose serious threats to people.

Scientists are talking of deadly tipping points, and recent images of blazing fires, wounded wildlife and urgent evacuations in Australia hammer home that the delicate balance of nature can be tipped out of control within a relatively short time frame. We urgently need to reset and reverse these trends—but doing so will require broad collaboration and investment. This job is too big for environmentalists alone.

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Ethical Corporation

March 3, 2020
Angeli Mehta reports on how companies like Danone, Unilever, and China's Cofco International are addressing biodiversity loss through platforms like the Business for Nature coalition and One Planet Business for Biodiversity

This decade has been billed as the decade of climate action – but it’s not enough to cut carbon emissions, we also have to reverse the precipitous loss of our planet’s biodiversity.

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China Dialogue

March 3, 2020
A new global deal for nature will need strong implementation and finance, but discussions on these issues at the latest negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity were lacking.

The clock is ticking. With just eight months to draw up a new deal for nature to prevent dire predictions of the extinction of one million species becoming reality, scientists and conservation groups are closely following progress of talks under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

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Lavanguardia

February 27, 2020
The Vice Minister of Environment of Costa Rica, Pamela Castillo, present in Rome on the occasion of the UN biodiversity summit, said there is a "general consensus" between the participating countries to advance their proposal to protect 30% of terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

In an interview with Efe, Castillo valued as "very positive" the atmosphere of consensus and "fluid conversation" in the first meetings of the signatory countries of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which this week in Rome prepare the framework document on biodiversity that will be ratified at the next October summit.

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 Agence France Presse

February 27, 2020
Protect biodiversity and manage natural resources sustainably at a time when people are devastating the planet: the Convention on Biological Biodiversity (CBD) began Monday to examine an action plan by 2050.

Originally scheduled in China, which will host the 15th meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in October, the February negotiations were moved to Rome due to the coronavirus epidemic.

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Reuters

February 27, 2020
Governments are under pressure this year to agree on protecting at least 30% of the planet’s land and seas by 2030, not only to conserve endangered species and ensure food and water supplies, but also to help regulate an increasingly erratic climate.

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