Government officials, experts and activists from around the world are gathering in Nairobi. Kenya for four days from Tuesday, August 27, 2019 to open talks on a global agreement to safeguard life on Earth, in all its forms. The meeting marks the official start of negotiations toward a new global framework for biodiversity.
The 196 Parties of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity are expected to adopt a new framework during their 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15), scheduled for October 2020 in Kunming, China.
The framework represents the world’s plan to halt the alarming trends in the state of nature, as outlined in the Global Assessment on Biodiversity by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), as well as the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land, the WEF Global Risks Reports, the OECD report on Biodiversity: Finance and the Economic and Business Case for Action and the upcoming Global Biodiversity Outlook 5, among others.
In the new framework, Parties aim to build on the Convention’s current Strategic Plan on Biodiversity (2011-2020), agreed in 2010. The post-2020 framework is timely given the growing headlines on ecological emergencies across the globe. The framework is expected to facilitate transformative change by taking a holistic approach to the multiple crises facing the planet and all its inhabitants and leveraging opportunities to invest in biodiversity. Through nature-centred development pathways, the framework aims to set the course to achieve the Convention’s Vision of “Living in Harmony with Nature” by 2050.
The Nairobi negotiations will draw on extensive consultations that have taken place around the globe during 2019. The plan and the discussions are firmly connected to other key international agreements on sustainable development. Strong action on biodiversity is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement on climate change and other global priorities. A global movement for nature is on the rise and signals the need for reaffirmed multilateral cooperation to safeguard biodiversity for people, our planet and prosperity.
