Earlier this week, the Council of the European Union announced that at next week’s United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) – the EU and the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) will support the adoption of an ‘ambitious, comprehensive and transformative’ post-2020 global biodiversity framework to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
As the Council of the EU states, this agreement is critical due to the alarming decline of biodiversity which is threatening food security, health, economies and livelihood for billions of people.
“COP15 will be a breakthrough conference where 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. Protecting our ecosystems is a common obligation for us as humanity. We are happy that we can work together with the OACPS and its Members to tackle this global challenge”, said Jiří Kozák, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechia.
The joint stance on the expectations for COP15 comes after ministers from the EU, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific gathered in Brussels on 29 November, for the Joint Council of Ministers between the OACPS and the EU.
The future biodiversity framework will need to include quantifiable targets, supported by a robust monitoring and review framework and adequate means to support its implementation, according to the press release by the Council of the EU.
I am pleased that we are determined to work together to preserve biodiversity, a common priority, and a prerequisite for life on earth. We have a long-standing cooperation with the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States in this area with many programmes supporting countries in halting biodiversity loss,” said Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships. “While sustaining wildlife and biodiversity, we are committed to ensure the livelihoods of local and indigenous communities. We have doubled our external funding for biodiversity, which represents a 7-billion-euro investment in biodiversity protection worldwide, especially for the most vulnerable countries. We stand ready to continue our engagement with our partners.”
During COP15, the OACPS, the EU together with UNEP will co-host a high-level event to ‘reflect upon’ the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.
The UN Biodiversity Conference Fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will be held in Montréal, from 7 to 19 December. The conference will see the adoption of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, which is expected to provide a ‘strategic vision’ and a global roadmap for the conservation, protection, restoration and sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystems for the next decade.
Separately, next week, our team will be travelling to this year’s Budapest Climate Summit to cover one of the biggest climate events in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). As part of the conference, we will interview experts and industry leaders on the CEE’s climate and suitability policies.
