The global community will lay the groundwork for action over the next few decades to protect biodiversity and nature at the 2018
UN Biodiversity Conference, scheduled to take place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from 17 to 29 November 2018.
More than 80 Ministers are expected to attend the High-Level Segment of the Conference on 14 and 15 November, during which round-tables will address the mainstreaming of biodiversity into critical sectors of the economy and society, in particular mining and energy, infrastructure, manufacturing and processing and health.
The UN Biodiversity Conference will be preceded by an African Ministerial Summit on Biodiversity, on 13 November, featuring the participation of over 30 Ministers.
Originally launched in 1992 as part of the Rio Earth Summit, the Convention on Biological Diversity is a global agreement among 196 nations inspired by the world community's growing commitment to sustainable development. It represents the global community’s commitment to the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
In its 25 years, it has advanced global action to safeguard biodiversity and contribute to all life’s well-being on our common planet. In the next two years it aims to define a post 2020 global framework on biodiversity to be adopted in Beijing, China in 2020, much as the Paris Agreement did in 2015 for climate change.
A number of crucial issues will be addressed at the 2018 UN Biodiversity Conference: including on digital sequence information, synthetic biology, and other effective area-based conservation measures. The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will address key measures to accelerate and scale actions to further advance the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, and review progress made towards the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets, a set of agreed goals on biodiversity conservation and sustainable use to be reached by 2020. They will also decide on the process for developing the post 2020 global biodiversity framework. In this context, Parties will discuss long-term strategic directions to the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity, which lays out a new approach to living in harmony with nature by 2050. In addition, Parties will explore ways to engage with productive sectors and work on shared objectives in support of the global biodiversity agenda.
In response to these and other reports, governments are expected to send a clear message that safeguarding biodiversity and the health of the planetary ecosystems is fundamental to our survival and the social and economic well-being of everybody, everywhere.
Source:
Press Release Convetion on Biological Diversity, 8.11.2018