CBD/COP13: Governments aim to stop global biodiversity decline

At an ongoing critical meeting which opened on Friday, the United Nations will call on decision makers from more than 190 countries to step up efforts to halt the loss of biodiversity and protect the ecosystems that support food and water security and health for billions of people.

At the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Cancun, Mexico, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will hold a two-week discussion in the shadow of data and reports showing that around two-thirds of the global Aichi Biodiversity Targets are currently not on track to be met by the 2020 deadline, with serious consequences for human well-being, unless enhanced efforts are made in the last four years of the decade.

The Aichi Targets specify actions to protect and sustainably use the entire variety of life on our planet. The targets address issues ranging from the loss of natural habitats, sustainable agriculture and declining fish stocks, to access and sharing of the benefits from the use of genetic resources, indigenous knowledge and awareness of the values of biodiversity.

Achievement of the Aichi Targets will be critical for achieving the three other historic global agendas agreed last year, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

“If we are going to save biodiversity, we need to work with these sectors that depend on biodiversity and whose activities have a considerable impact on the variety of life on our planet,” CBD Executive Secretary, Dr Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias said.

Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism are important sectors whose activities need to take biodiversity conservation and sustainable use into account in a coherent manner,” CBD Executive Secretary, Dr Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias said

Chief of UN Environment, Erik Solheim said “Governments have made ambitious commitments to achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, but these declarations need to be matched with actions at the national level. If countries do not ensure that national targets are set and achieved, their ambition will only remain on paper.”

The meeting will review the progress that has been made towards the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, the achievement of the Aichi Targets, as well as related means of implementation. It will also identify actions needed to meet the targets at the national level.