6
June 2008: During World Environment Day celebrations in Montreal, Canada, the
Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Ahmed
Djoghlaf, stressed that biodiversity is “part and parcel of any viable
long-term response to addressing the climate-change challenges facing mankind”
and that the effective and coordinated implementation of the three Rio
conventions is the new multilateral response for achieving lasting peace,
shared prosperity and sustainable future.

Noting
that a biologically diverse tropical forest typically holds 50 times more
carbon per unit of area than a monoculture plantation replacing it, he added
that “the decision of the Convention on Biological Diversity to promote
biodiversity in forest management has a large potential to mitigate climate
change, if countries followed it with vigour.” [CBD press release]