The European Union has a mandate for the final segment of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15) to be held in Montreal from 7 to 19 December to adopt an ambitious global framework for biodiversity, as the EU hopes.
The EU Council conclusions formally establishing the EU’s negotiating position for this UN conference and for related conferences (COP-MOP10 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and COP-MOP4 of the Nagoya Protocol) were adopted on Monday 24 October in Luxembourg without difficulty, an agreement having been reached ahead of the Environment Council meeting (see EUROPE 13038/6).
“World leaders will gather to agree on the global protection of our biodiversity. We are already witnessing a serious decline of different species and it is time to act. I am glad the EU agreed on a strong position for the biodiversity summit. Protecting our ecosystems is a common obligation for us as humanity”, commented Czech Minister of the Environment Anna Hubáčková, who chaired the session.
As main objectives and targets, the EU will promote, inter alia: - the effective conservation of at least 30% of the land and at least 30% of the oceans, safeguarding the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities; - stepping up action to effectively restore degraded ecosystems (3 billion hectares of land and freshwater ecosystems and 3 billion hectares of ocean ecosystems) to put biodiversity on a path to recovery.
A robust monitoring mechanism. The text calls for the adoption in Montreal of a ‘planning, reporting and review mechanism’ and a robust monitoring framework with headline indicators to ensure and strengthen implementation and encourage political commitment. This framework should include national biodiversity strategies and action plans.
Closing the funding gap. All countries are invited to mobilise additional resources to fill the funding gap. To set an example, the EU has already announced that it will double its funding for biodiversity, particularly in vulnerable countries, to €7 billion from its 2021-2027 budget (see EUROPE 13029/28).
The EU Council underlines the crucial importance of integrating biodiversity into all policies and sectors and commits to lead by example by fully integrating biodiversity into plans and policies at European, national and local levels.
It also calls for the adoption of the Cartagena Protocol Implementation Plan (2022-2030), anchored in and complementary to the global biodiversity framework. It also stresses the need to fully implement the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing and to improve its effectiveness and efficiency.
See the conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/3rq (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)