Ahmed Djoghlaf: The century of sustainability begins now
In between these events, citizens around the world mobilized and called for action within the framework of the International Year of Biodiversity, which ultimately urged world leaders to act. In early May 2010, the world received a wake-up call that warned of the consequences of continuing on our current development path. Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, based on the best available scientific evidence, and drawing upon the national reports of Parties to the Convention, warned that the continuing loss of species and habitats, predicted to accelerate under the growing impact of climate change, has placed so much pressure on the life-support ecosystems of our world that many, such as the Amazon rainforest and the world’s coral reefs, risk passing a “tipping point”.
The report reminded us that the status of biodiversity, the richness of life that sustains us, will be determined for millions of years to come by the actions that human society takes over the next 10-15 years.
However, there was also a message of hope. Humans have the power and the tools needed to avoid this scenario, and the Convention on Biological Diversity is the basis for a sustainable future. Mainstreaming the three objectives of the Convention – the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and the equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of the genetic resources of our world – into the policies and actions that govern our economies and societies is the foundation for harmony and sustainability.
During the International Year of Biodiversity, the world stepped up and responded to this challenge. Citizens around the world in 191 countries, in thousands of events and activities, discovered the importance of biodiversity, demonstrated the kinds of actions needed to save it, and called for the world to act.
Leaders responded. The Nagoya Biodiversity Summit in October adopted the 2011-2020 Biodiversity Strategic Plan, the “Aichi Target”, which includes 20 headline targets, organized under five strategic goals that address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, reduce the pressures on biodiversity, safeguard biodiversity at all levels, enhance the benefits provided by biodiversity, and provide for capacity-building.
Among the targets, Parties agreed to at least halve and where feasible bring close to zero the rate of loss of natural habitats including forests; protect 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 per cent of marine and coastal areas; restore at least 15 percent of degraded areas; and make special efforts to reduce the pressures faced by coral reefs.
The Aichi Target was endorsed by the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly as the strategic plan of the whole biodiversity family. This overarching biodiversity framework contains means of implementation and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. The Parties agreed to translate the Aichi Target into national biodiversity strategies and action plans.
These actions also now reach to the local level. The 650 participants at the Nagoya Summit on Cities and Biodiversity agreed to translate the Aichi Target into action plans at the city level. To this end, a Singapore urban biodiversity index, tested out in 34 cities, was endorsed. A biodiversity partnership between mayors and policy makers was born in Nagoya. Moreover, 122 parliamentarians of the world in adopting the Nagoya Declaration on Parliamentarians and Biodiversity agreed to endorse the Aichi Target.
A Multi-Year Plan of Action on South-South Cooperation on Biodiversity for Development was also adopted by the G77 and China in support of the Aichi Target.
In addition, representatives of bilateral and multilateral donor agencies agreed to translate the plan into their respective development cooperation priorities. To support developing countries in implementing the Nagoya compact, Japan established the Japan Biodiversity Fund. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan committed USD 2 billion for the three coming years to financing biodiversity projects. Additional financial resources were announced by France, the European Union and Norway, with nearly USD 110 million being mobilized in support of projects under the CBD LifeWeb Initiative, which aims at enhancing the protected-area agenda.
Also finalized at COP10 was the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization, one of the most important legal instruments in the history of the environment movement. This historic agreement creates a framework that balances access to genetic resources on the basis of prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms with the fair and equitable sharing of benefits while taking into account the important role of traditional knowledge. The Protocol also proposes the creation of a global multilateral mechanism that will operate in transboundary areas or situations where prior informed consent cannot be obtained. The Nagoya Protocol is expected to gain early entry into force by 2012.
The Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena protocol on Biosafety was also major breakthrough.
At the Cancun Climate Change Meeting in Mexico, the decision on reduced emissions from avoided deforestation and degradation (REDD) included an important reference to biodiversity, while the Nagoya outcomes became a symbol of the possibilities of multilateralism.
As a result of this worldwide mobilization during the International Year of Biodiversity, in 2011, the world is not looking back, it is moving forward.
As the 2011-2020 United Nations Decade on Biodiversity now begins, the goal we collectively face is to raise further awareness of the importance of biodiversity to human wellbeing, while promoting the implementation of the Convention and its strategic targets. And indeed, under the political and financial leadership of Japan, world governments are expected to carry out the actions needed to ensure that biodiversity concerns are mainstreamed across all sectors of society.
The century of sustainability begins now.
reklama
Author is is the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
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