The second meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI 2) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)heldin Montreal July, 9- 13.
This year the SBI2 reviewedthe progress in the implementation of the CBD, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020towards the achievement of the Aichi targets; assessed and reviewedthe effectiveness of the Nagoya Protocol; examined the issues of the capacity-building,technical and scientific cooperation and technology transfer; decided to start to consider the modalities of a global multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism; looked at the issues of the cooperation with other conventions,international organizations and partnerships in implementing the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs; reviewed the work on in and cross-sectoral mainstreaming of biodiversity, and considered other strategic actions to enhance implementation of the CBD.
The CBD is the first global agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, signed by 150 government leaders at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. 2018th is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the entry of the CBD into force. Today the 196 Parties to the CBD are striving to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and support implementation of the 2030 Agenda. At the same time, despite the efforts made by the individual states and the international community, the loss in biodiversity and the desctruction of ecosystems continue at unprecedented pace. “Further economic growth can facilitate sustainable development only if it is decoupled from the degradation of biodiversity and nature’s capacity to contribute to people. Such decoupling, however, has not yet happened and would require far-reaching change in policies and tax reforms at the global and national levels”,– saidMs. Cristina Pasca Palmer, the Executive Director of the CBD.
The SBI2 meeting is held the same time as 2018 High-Level Political Forumon sustainable development in New-York. The 2018 HLPF is reviewing the progress towards achieving six SDGs including SDG15on halting biodiversity loss.On both fora SBI2 and 2018 HLPF, the stakeholders underscored the importance of a deeper integrationin approaches to implementing interlinked biodiversity Aichi targets and the SDGs.: implementing the 2030 Agenda and achieving closely connected SDGs and the Aichi targets,require urgent transformational change in the approaches takento safeguard, restore, and invest in biodiversity. Against this background, and building on the participatory roadmap for the post-2020 global biodiversity frameworkthe Secretariat of the CBD has convened a seminar on Transformational Change for the Biodiversity Agenda on July 8, 2018. It will reflect on the steps for the accelerating sustainability transitions in the biodiversity agenda. It will draw on examples from the energy sector as well as factors in fostering transformation in the UNFCCC process. The discussions were focused on how the fourth industrial revolution can be harnessed for nature.
