Media statement: Global Biodiversity Framework draft text - A solid starting point for the critical negotiations to come
Pandemic may have forced further postponement of UN CBD-COP15, but latest draft gives cause for optimism
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Ciaran Clayton
The Nature Conservancy (U.S.)
Email: ciaran.clayton@tnc.org -
Tom Jennings
The Nature Conservancy (Europe)
Email: tom.jennings@tnc.org
The Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) today published the draft negotiating text for its new Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) – the crucial ‘New Deal for Nature’ that will replace the expired 2020 Aichi Targets and, it is hoped, provide a transformational overhaul for international efforts to arrest and reverse the ongoing environmental crisis, effectively doing for nature what the Paris Agreement is intended to do for climate change.
Commenting on the draft GBF text ahead of the next round of Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) negotiations, The Nature Conservancy’s global biodiversity policy lead Linda Krueger said:
“We’re heartened to note the strong progress made on the draft GBF negotiating text since the publication of the Zero Draft version back in January 2020. Clearly the co-chairs have been listening carefully to the consultations and have strengthened and clarified the text accordingly.
“Much work remains before this draft negotiation text is set in stone as the heart of the new Global Biodiversity Framework, but against the intensely challenging backdrop of successive postponements and minimal opportunities for face-to-face meetings between parties, The Nature Conservancy applauds the negotiation committee co-chairs’ tireless efforts in progressing the draft to this stage.
“Progress has evidently been made – and needs to be sustained – across a range of critical areas including specificity and measurability of targets, measures to address drivers of land-use change, and untangling the language around nature-based solutions as they apply to both climate and biodiversity.”
Elaborating further on the content of the draft negotiation text, Andrew Deutz – Director of Global Policy, Institutions and Conservation Finance for The Nature Conservancy – said:
“We’re particularly encouraged by the strong emphasis on the crucial area of resource mobilisation. The negotiating draft correctly frames the challenge as closing the conservation finance gap, recognizing the dual needs to increase positive financial flows and reduce harmful expenditures and incentives. This framing evidently builds on the findings and recommendations made in our recent Financing Nature, written with the Paulson Institute and Cornell University’s Atkinson Center for Sustainability.
“Time is short to arrest and reverse the accelerating global crises of species loss and habitat degradation, and increase nature’s contributions to human wellbeing; by establishing this strong foundation for negotiations, the CBD is throwing nature a crucial lifeline at this critical time.”
For more information on The Nature’s Conservancy’s global biodiversity work, click here
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more sustainable. Working in 76 countries and territories—37 by direct conservation impact and 39 through partners—we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit www.nature.org or follow @nature_press on Twitter.