Speakers, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema Executive Secretary, UN Convention on Biological Diversity; Huang Runqiu, President, COP 15, Minister of Ecology and Environment of China; Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme; Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Canada discuss the importance of COP15 at the opening media briefing. (c) Kim Dunn at RSPB
Today’s blog is written by Kim Dunn, Senior Policy Officer, who is live in Montreal exploring the importance of business voices at CBD COP15.
This it is not a normal CBD COP meeting. In the next two weeks of COP15 a new roadmap to nature recovery will be decided, ultimately looking to repair our relationship with nature. This is the time for action, be part of the solution and understand how your business impacts biodiversity.
The Biodiversity COP – COP15 - is here, and is a truly historic moment for nature and the world. While negotiations are happening between countries and delegates, the outcome will impact us all, including the businesses which may feel far removed from nature. With over 17,000 delegates registered and 1400 businesses represented, this is a big opportunity to build the consensus, and it’s clear that businesses want to be part of the conversation.
The COP15 aims to finalise a framework – or roadmap – under which real action to protect and restore nature by 2030 will need to happen. In the 10 years since the Aichi targets were set out in 2010, limited progress has been made and none of the Aichi targets have been met. Businesses will need to be involved – The outcomes of COP15 couldn’t be more critical and businesses can only prosper on a healthy planet.
On 6 of December 2022, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary, UN Convention on Biological Diversity, started by stressing how much work there is still to do to make the Framework successful – it will require compromise on all sides, but we don’t have any more time to lose.
What is the framework?
The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) has 4 overarching goals, and currently 22 Targets in draft.
While all of the targets are important and must be ambitious, realistic and actionable, we’ve picked out a few that are of particular interest to businesses, which are summarised below:
Target 5: Sustainable harvesting, trade and wild species use.
Target 7: Reduction of pollution
Target 8: Minimise impacts of climate change on biodiversity
Target 10: Sustainable management of agriculture, aquaculture and forestry
Target 14: Integration of biodiversity values into policy, regulation and planning.
Target 16: Consumer-focused – encouraging and enabling sustainable consumption.
Target 21: Equitable and effective participation in biodiversity-related decision making, including indigenous knowledge, women, and persons with disabilities.
Target 15
However, by far the most important target for business is Target 15 – this target is specifically aimed at businesses and proposed regular monitoring and reporting of their impacts and dependencies on nature. This target forms the basis for the Make it Mandatory campaign run by Business for Nature.
All the targets are currently in draft form, with the aim that they will be cleaned, finalised and agreed by the end of the COP15 on the 20th December. This will require a huge amount of negotiating between parties and delegates, as well as compromise and flexibility over wording, as it can be incredibly difficult to find a word that works for every country – spot the difference between Nature-based solutions, ecosystem-based approaches, Mother Earth centric actions. While they are subtle, these terms can take hours of negotiation to make sure that all parties are happy and willing to agree.
What else is happening?
All around the negotiations, side events are happening, bringing together NGOs, Businesses and financial institutions to discuss and share how the framework can be implemented. The agenda is full!
These side events are a chance for sharing, collaboration, and urgent discussions on how all of us can play a part in protecting and restoring nature. Some of these events are available online – you can see the agenda and sign up here.
Everyone has something to say, whether it’s a new technology, metric, case study or to share the importance of a particular habitat. And they are all looking to influence how the ministers and negotiators will react to the negotiations over the next few days. Business and Finance even have dedicated days at this event, showing just how far we have come in recognising their voice.
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in the opening plenary stated that ‘we are committing suicide by proxy’ as the loss of biodiversity will ultimately be our downfall, and we cannot meet climate goals, equality goals or sustainable economics without the underpinning of nature. He continues ‘We need to urgently stop the biodiversity apocalypse, driven by the 5 horsemen of biodiversity loss’ ( Land-use change; Overexploitation; Pollution; The climate crisis; The spread of invasive species, as outlined by the IPBES report).
The governments must bring about the legislation and regulations to drive changes, but the private sector must be held accountable, and recognise their responsibility to the future of their businesses, the nature they rely on, and for the generations to come.
Regardless of the outcome of the COP15 negotiations, it is crucial that businesses continue to build their voice in this space, recognising the importance of biodiversity in their operations and its fundamental value for all of us. This is the time for action, not greenwashing – be part of the solution, and explore and understand how your business impacts biodiversity.
Businesses are here, will you be joining them? There is no time to COP out.
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