Living in Harmony with Nature: cities and subnational governments committing on a roadmap towards a post-2020 global biodiversity agenda

The IPBES – the equivalent of IPCC for biodiversity – published last May an assessment expressing concerns about the state of biodiversity and ecosystems at the global scale. This alarming report nevertheless suggests actions to create a transformative change in our societies. Among those actions, the commitment of urban areas is of course determining. The engagement of cities, metropolitan areas and subnational governments would support national and global commitments within the new post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

The first edition of The Nature Of Cities Summit gathered hundreds of stakeholders, citizens, artists, scientists, decision-makers, representatives of collectivities and activists from the civil society or the academic and research field. This meeting was held with a transdisciplinary approach of nature in cities in order to facilitate the development of sustainable cities that are beneficial for People and Nature.

A participative workshop was organized by the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework - EU Support project team and aimed at collecting recommendations from the participants on an action agenda but also on a roadmap for cities, metropolitan areas and subnational governments. The global objective is to instill a global dynamism that will support the signature of an ambitious agreement at the COP 15.

Supporting partnerships between local stakeholders committed for biodiversity

This workshop was the opportunity to create a space for discussion necessary to strengthen links and cooperation between local stakeholders committed to protect and sustainably use biodiversity at the local level.

The workshop emphasized best practices through a transversal approach, especially in terms of investment in urban biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by healthy ecosystems and green infrastructures in the urban area. International participants demonstrated the role of ecological interconnectivity in urban areas and illustrated the many benefits of nature for life quality, sustainable food production, mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, human health and resilience to natural risks and catastrophes, etc.

“We need to engage with partner countries, all the countries outside the European Union (EU) and as well with stakeholders inside these partner countries. And among the stakeholders, we have cities, business, citizens, civil society. Cities are important stakeholders because they are growing everywhere. We should not see these cities as a part of a problem but as a part of the solution to tackle biodiversity challenges” Daniel Van Assche developed, as the officer representing the EU Foreign Policy Instrument.

They all had the opportunity to exchange on the complexity of the multiple challenges associated with biodiversity conservation in cities. “La Valle de Aburrà [Colombia] is currently actively working with all the stakeholders in order to develop concrete legislation to increase the number of trees per inhabitant and the total surface of green spaces, to connect these zones, to protect pollinators, to create spaces to seed and restore damaged areas” Maria del Pilar Restrepo, responsible for the environmental authority of the metropolitan area of La Valle de Abburà in Colombia, explained.

The dialogue underlined the importance to engage concerted and multi-stakeholder efforts mobilizing the private and academic sectors with governmental agencies. “Aichi Prefecture [Japan] established Ecosystem Network Councils. These councils consist of various stakeholders in the region, setting regional goals and carrying out various efforts for the implementation of ecosystems networks. There are currently 9 established councils covering the whole area of the prefecture and 280 participating organizations in total” Hiroko Mizuno presented, who is in charge of biodiversity issues at Aichi Prefecture.

Defining a common roadmap

Many questions have then been formulated and dedicated to the participants: what solutions could they implement? What are their needs and necessary resources? To what extent could they adapt those solutions and transform them into official commitments? What are the milestones in the international agenda of local stakeholders that could support their mobilization until the COP 15 and beyond?

They submitted through a participative approach their suggestions to identify stakeholders, events and key ideas that will be intersected and will represent the basis to define a common roadmap. The main challenge being the coordination between stakeholders.

“It is essential that the United Nations define how to better work with subnational governments. Cities and subnational governments are the only ones able to manage landscapes and seascapes. The legislation on practices of the private sector and its implementation is better managed in cities” Oliver Hillel underlined, as the programme manager in charge of Cities and Subnational governments at the Secretariat of the CBD.

The ambition was to gather efforts from different networks, to channel the energies and to structure contributions that can determine concrete commitments and strategic action principles, including direct and indirect factors of biodiversity loss.

Promoting cities’ commitments for 2020… and beyond

“The objective is now to develop a systemic approach to go forward and to avoid the dilution of ideas” Ingrid Coetzee, from the Center for Biodiversity in Cities of ICLEI, stated. She also took the opportunity to present the platform CitiesWithNature, supported by the Secretariat of the CBD as a part of the action agenda defined for the COP 15, and which is associating networks such as ICLEI, IUCN and TNOC. This network of practitioners gathers commitments from cities and subnational governments with more than 70 municipal contributions submitted to this day.

In order to do so, those commitments taken to tackle biodiversity loss will have to follow “SMART” goals, SMART meaning Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-based.  The commitments should be regularly revised upward within the post-2020 global biodiversity framework that will be defined at the COP 15, taking into account the 2050 vision “Living in Harmony with Nature”. They finally have to be supported by a strong monitoring and evaluation system that will verify their implementation and assure its effectiveness at regular intervals.

“In São Paulo, we are trying to strengthen convergence and the integration of different agendas, the climate change agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, and the biodiversity agenda, while referring to the Convention on Biological Diversity. This provides us with a basis to implement really concrete actions, such as developing environmental educative programs articulated with field activities such as the restoration of the forest or the development of green markets” Paul Dale concluded, as a representative of the Secretariat for Infrastructures and Environment from the State of Sao Paula [Brazil].

A roadmap that has been determined at the summit will be presented next July during the summit “Unlocking the power of metropolises to mainstream biodiversity and ecosystem services for nature and people” to be held in Medellin, Colombia.

For more information about the project: www.4post2020bd.net

For more information about the European programme for cooperation between cities: www.iuc.eu