Taking action for biodiversity worldwide to build a transformative global framework

How can the international community take effective and sustainable action to preserve global biodiversity? Expertise France is assisting the European Commission with the negotiations for the upcoming COP15 on biological diversity, which will be held in Kunming in China, and their translation into concrete actions to live in harmony with Nature as soon as this new global framework has been adopted. From 2018 to 2021, the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework – EU Support project facilitated the mobilisation of a number of stakeholders and Parties to the Convention and contributed to the definition of ambitious and achievable objectives for the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. This strategic plan, which should be adopted at the end of August 2022, will be a key driver for the achievement of the SDGs. A second phase of the project, which has been launched in 2022, is supporting the last stages in the run up to Kunming and will pave the way for a swift and effective implementation of the agreement under preparation.

Learning lessons from the Aichi Targets

It is essential to learn lessons from the past, including by analysing the weaknesses of the previous global framework adopted at COP10 in Nagoya in 2010. The international community had agreed on 20 strategic objectives, the “Aichi Targets”. But so far, none of them have been fully achieved: the scientific assessments conducted in recent years show that there has been no decline whatsoever in global pressures on biodiversity, quite the contrary. This experience highlights the need to define more realistic, more strategic and more measurable objectives.

A collaborative approach

Expertise France focuses on a partnership-based approach, in addition to technical assistance to ten countries around the world, for the definition and operationalisation of their biodiversity commitments. Various stakeholders have rallied around common objectives and the creation of ambitious coalitions for COP15 and the implementation of the post-2020 framework. In addition to the States, the agency works with local authorities, cities and local governments via the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). It also involves civil society by partnering with international NGOs, such as WWF International which mobilises a coalition of a number of non-State actors, as well as youth organisations and movements, such as the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN).