11 September 2009: Environmental ministers and senior officials of the European Union met in Strömstad, Sweden, with a view to contributing to the revision of the Strategic Plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) after 2010. At the High-level Meeting entitled “Visions for Biodiversity Beyond 2010 – People, Ecosystems and the Climate Crisis,” held on 7-9 September 2009, participants endorsed a target to halt global forest cover loss by 2030 and to reduce gross tropical deforestation by at least 50% by 2020 compared to current levels.

They further agreed on strategic principles on ecosystem services, climate change and sustainable development, among others, which pointed to the need to increase ecosystems’ resilience to threats from climate change, and to use Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) to create synergies between biodiversity, climate change and development policies, including the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. [Chair’s Conclusions]