As the red light goes on with regards global biodiversity, it would be appropriate – given that the COP 15 for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is scheduled to take place in China in 2020 – to opt for a strategy comparable to that in place for the climate, in order to deliver ambitious results. This is what France advocated, with support from Luxembourg, on Monday 25 June at the meeting of the Council of European environment ministers in Luxembourg, under “miscellaneous”.
The challenge is considerable as the COP 15 must result in the adoption of a strategic framework for global biodiversity beyond 2020. The COP 14, which is to be held in Egypt in November, could serve as a major step towards “creating momentum and awareness in favour of biodiversity of the same magnitude as that enjoyed by the climate”, the French delegation said.
According to Paris, it is no longer enough to agree as in 2010 on what must be attained but, of course, on how to attain it. And that “how” should be part of the results of COP 15. To that end, the international community should aim at two things: - commitments taken by the parties upstream of the COP 15, and then consolidated, which would be the subject of an effective follow-up mechanism and a review clause; - and voluntary commitments by non-state players, as part of an agenda of global action acting as an umbrella for existing or future partnerships and coalitions. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)