The year 2020 has been designated a “super year for nature”, when the global community will rededicate itself to halting biodiversity loss with a 10-year action agenda, scheduled for agreement at the conference of the parties to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in Kunming in China in October.

On 13 January we published an initial “zero” draft of an action framework, which will be considered at negotiations being held in Rome from 24 February.

This first draft is based on extensive consultations, advice from governments, scientists, indigenous peoples, NGOs and others, gathered through dozens of meetings and hundreds of written submissions.

Q&A What is the Kunming biodiversity conference 2021? Show Hide In 2021, hundreds of biodiversity experts and government ministers are expected to negotiate new targets on biodiversity for this decade at a meeting in the Chinese city of Kunming. The aim of the accord, “a Paris agreement for nature”, is to stop and reverse rampant biodiversity loss around the world. Why is it a big deal?

In 2017 scientists warned humans are causing the sixth mass extinction in the Earth’s history. Now the UN has reported that the world has failed to meet a single target agreed a decade ago to stem the destruction of wildlife and life-sustaining ecosystems. Are only governments worried?

No. At the 2020 World Economic Forum, business leaders warned biodiversity loss was the third biggest risk to the world in terms of likelihood and severity, ahead of infectious diseases, terror attacks and interstate conflict. What might the Kunming agreement look like?

In January, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity published a 20-point draft of the agreement. It commits signatories to protect at least 30% of the planet, introduce controls on invasive species and reduce pollution from plastic waste and excess nutrients by 50%. Critics, however, say this does not go far enough. Is this agreement part of a long term plan?

Yes. The UN has an overarching plan that humanity should be living in harmony with nature by 2050. The 2030 goals relate to that ambition in five ways: ensuring no net losses in the integrity and size of freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems; reducing the number of species threatened with extinction; enhancing genetic diversity; achieving the targets of the Paris Agreement; and sharing the benefits of genetic resources and traditional knowledge.

It was also developed directly in response to the landmark 2019 global assessment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which warned of a million plant and animal species threatened by extinction.

Other elements that helped shape this draft include:

A global population of 7.6 billion today, expected to reach 8.6 billion by 2030 and 9.8 billion by 2050, with 68% of us living in urban areas.

Recognition of the direct links between climate change and biodiversity loss: we need to address both in order to maintain nature and our wellbeing. We must also be careful not to address climate change in ways that may harm biodiversity and vice versa.

To be successful, the new plan needs to engage every element of our societies, going well beyond environmental agencies to whole-government and whole-society approaches.

Success will also depend on learning from past experiences, successes and challenges.

A fully open and transparent negotiation process is a key characteristic of the CBD: all discussions are open and all drafts are made public. This is a powerful feature and a way to build support and engagement that will be essential at the implementation stage.

The proposed framework recognises that action globally, regionally, nationally, and locally is required to transform economic, social and financial systems in order to stabilise biodiversity loss and allow ecosystems to recover. Governments and societies need to determine priorities and allocate financial and other resources, internalise the value of nature, and recognise the cost of inaction. Only then can we achieve the shared vision of “living in harmony with nature by 2050”, agreed by world governments 10 years ago.

This plan acknowledges the need to recognise gender equality, women’s empowerment, youth, and the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities. It also recognises that implementation will require the partnership of many organisations – global, national and local, taking a rights-based approach – as well as the principle of intergenerational equity.

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Achieving our goal requires addressing the five foremost drivers of biodiversity loss: changes in land and sea use; direct exploitation of organisms; climate change; pollution; and invasive alien species.

The Rome discussions will be followed by further consultation with scientific and administrative advisers and a second negotiation session in late July in Cali, Colombia, the last meeting before the global community meets in Kunming.

The challenge is how we will get to this brighter future from today’s uncertain world. Every government is needed, every organisation, and every citizen. Not only should no one be left behind, everyone should be fully engaged.

We need open minds on all sides to a vision of socio-economic development achieved through sustainability, to convince those who can to help those in need, to adjust from an unsustainable paradigm of vested interests to investing in change.

There are positive signs from governments, from civil society and from business that the changes needed can be made, as indeed they must. The stakes are high but solutions are within reach.

• Basile van Havre and Francis Ogwal co-chair the open-ended working group on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework





