16 October 2014: The High-level Segment (HLS) of the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 12) adopted the ‘Gangwon Declaration on Biodiversity for Sustainable Development.’ The Declaration reaffirms commitments to fully implement the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and celebrates the entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the CBD.

The HLS addressed, inter alia: nature-based solutions to global challenges; biodiversity, climate change and creative economy; integrating biodiversity into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the post-2015 development agenda; and integrating national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs) into national and local development and poverty eradication strategies and planning processes. In opening remarks, CBD Executive Secretary, Braulio Dias, drew attention to the gap between commitment to implementing the Aichi Targets and their implementation rate, underscoring that more needs to be done to address biodiversity loss.

Also speaking at the HLS, Global Environment Facility (GEF) CEO, Naoko Ishii, emphasized that biodiversity is the GEF’s single largest focal area, with an allocation of US$1.3 billion from the GEF-6 replenishment of US$4.4 billion. She said the GEF’s other focal areas also contribute to achieving the Aichi Targets. UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, Helen Clark, highlighted UNDP’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), which supports countries in addressing biodiversity finance gaps, including through working with Ministries of Finance and Planning to identify expenditure that negatively affects biodiversity.

Clark said recognition that “maintaining biodiversity is related not only to direct conservation measures, but also to pursuing poverty reduction and human development in ways that are sustainable” is critical to the post-2015 development agenda’s success. Dias warned that unless the Strategic Plan is implemented in all countries, “virtually none of the SDGs will be achieved.” UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Deputy Executive Director, Ibrahim Thiaw, Amina Mohammed, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning, Ishii and others also called for biodiversity to be addressed in the post-2015 development agenda.

The Gangwon Declaration notes that current progress is not sufficient to achieve the Aichi Targets, according to the fourth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO 4). It calls for further integration and mainstreaming of biodiversity in the post-2015 development agenda, emphasizes the contribution of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and the Aichi Targets to the post-2015 development agenda, and calls on Parties and others to link the post-2015 development agenda’s implementation with processes such as the UN Development Assistance Framework process and national biodiversity strategy and action plans (NBSAPs). The Declaration recognizes, inter alia: the need for enhanced scientific and technical cooperation among countries to implement CBD objectives; the crucial role of indigenous peoples and local communities (ILCs) in biodiversity conservation and sustainable use; and the role of ABS in biodiversity conservation, poverty eradication and environmental sustainability.

The CBD COP 12 HLS convened from 15-16 October under the theme, ‘Biodiversity for Sustainable Development,’ in Pyeongchang, the Republic of Korea. [IISD RS Coverage of CBD COP 12] [GEF Press Release on HLS] [GEF Press Release on Declaration] [GEF CEO Statement] [UNDP Administrator Statement] [HLS Programme]