Discussions during the “2020 Ocean Pathways Week” included a workshop focued on linkages between a meeting on “Advancing Ocean Action Towards SDG 14: Leveraging Synergies for Marine and Coastal Ecosystems, Mangroves and Coral Reefs” and the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.
The workshop on this topic took place on 13 November 2019, with the objective of delivering concrete proposals to be considered in the post-2020 framework. The workshop was coordinated by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and supported by the Ministry of Environment and Energy of the Government of Sweden and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea.
During a discussion on topics related to the meeting on “Advancing Ocean Action Towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14,” participants considered opportunities and overlaps between the SDG 14 process and the process under the CBD to develop the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Break out sessions considered sustainable fisheries, the overarching impact of climate change and other drivers of global biodiversity loss, and potential gaps within SDG 14 targets that may be addressed in the post-2020 framework. Participants also discussed using the SDGs to inform indicators, monitoring, and assessment of post-2020 targets, with breakout groups highlighting the need to work across conventions, strengthen indicators, and work towards quantitative as well as qualitative measurement.
During a discussion on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, participants heard a series of presentations on the status and trends of different areas of ocean action, including:
- the state of the ocean;
- fisheries;
- Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 (area-based conservation);
- mangroves and wetlands;
- coral reefs; and
- migratory species.
Highlights from a discussion on how lessons learned from implementing the Aichi Biodiversity Targets could inform the post-2020 global biodiversity framework included the importance of synergies between top-down global targets and bottom-up regional achievements. [ENB summary report on the Ocean Pathways workshop]