Brussels, 21/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - Speaking on behalf of the European Commission, Janez Potoènik, the European Commissioner for the Environment, welcomed the successful outcome of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP12 Pyeongchang, South Korea). This conference focused its efforts on providing finance to developing countries and reached an agreement on 2020 targets for mobilising the required financial resources. The Commissioner particularly welcomed the political commitment made at COP11 in Hyderabad (October 2012) to double international biodiversity-related resource flows to developing countries by 2015.
The Commissioner emphasised “This is a very ambitious target supporting the implementation of the Global Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (adopted in Nagoya in 2010) and the achievement of the Aichi targets. The EU is fully delivering on these commitments”.
He also pointed out that funding from the EU and its member states for biodiversity in developing countries had significantly increased. The 2014 EU accountability report on finance for development indicates that biodiversity-related finance between the period 2006-2010 was on average around €190 million and €289 million in 2012. The Commissioner indicated that “This figure is estimated to go up to €300 million in 2013. Altogether, this puts us on a good track to achieve the Hyderabad target by 2015”.
The Commissioner was delighted that this agreement also introduces a specific target on the mobilisation of domestic financial resources “in recognition of the fundamental importance of national prioritisation of biodiversity policy”.
Other progress that can be attributed to COP12, which the Commission welcomes, includes adoption of the so-called 'Pyeongchang Roadmap'. These relate to marine biodiversity, invasive alien species, climate change and biodiversity, ecosystem conservation and restoration, synthetic biology, and biodiversity and sustainable development.
Potoènik welcomes the successful conclusion of the first Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing. This landmark treaty entered into force on 12 October 2014. Potoènik also welcomes the adoption of the Gangwon Declaration on Biodiversity for Sustainable Development, in which the parties to the convention underscore the importance of integrating and mainstreaming biodiversity into the post-2015 development cooperation agenda, including the future Sustainable Development Goals. According to the UN (Global Biodiversity Outlook 2014), the international community must make more of an effort to attain the Aichi targets. (AN)