28 May 2010: The third meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) took place from 24-28 May 2010, in Nairobi, Kenya. During the meeting, delegates addressed an updated and revised strategic plan for the post-2010 period, including climate-related targets, which remains bracketed pending resolution of financial issues and negotiations on access and benefit-sharing (ABS).

The draft strategic plan underscores that addressing the biodiversity crisis will benefit people in many ways and will help to slow climate change by enabling ecosystems to store and absorb more carbon. It will also help people adapt to climate change by adding resilience to ecosystems and making them less vulnerable. Achieving this positive outcome requires actions at multiple entry points, including: action to address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss; action to decrease the direct pressures on biodiversity; and efforts to ensure continued provision of ecosystem services and access to these services, especially for the poor. It is noted that maintenance and restoration of ecosystems generally provide cost-effective ways to address climate change. Therefore, although climate change is an additional major threat to biodiversity, and addressing this threat opens up a number of opportunities for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.
Draft target 10 refers to minimizing the multiple pressures on coral reefs and other vulnerable ecosystems impacted by climate change or ocean acidification; and target 15 addresses enhancing ecosystem resilience and the contribution of biodiversity to carbon stocks through conservation and restoration, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation and to combating desertification. [Meeting Website] [WGRI 3 Recommendations (temporary link)] [IISD RS Coverage of the Meeting][CBD Press Release]