December 2012: The LifeWeb Initiative of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has circulated its newsletter, providing an overview of developments in 2012 and planning for the new phase coming up in 2013.

The goal of the CBD LifeWeb Initiative is to build partnerships and strengthen financing to effectively protect areas that conserve biodiversity, secure livelihoods and address climate change. It is highlighted in the newsletter that the first phase (2009 to 2011) of the CBD LifeWeb Initiative has been highly successful with 78 countries and 17 donor agencies participating and profiling the needs of 102 protected area projects totaling approximately 648 million euros. The initiative has helped facilitate 62 funding matches totaling close to 200 million euros for the expansion and strengthening of national and regional protected area systems toward the achievement of Aichi Target 11 and related targets. Consultation on the new phase for the initiative has revealed the need to align it much more closely with the Strategic Plan and the updating of national biodiversity strategies and action plans. The newsletter also presents the carbon calculator, a joint product of the CBD Secretariat, LifeWeb Initiative and UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre to estimate the potential contribution of any area in the world to climate change mitigation. [Publication: CBD LifeWeb Initiative Newsletter, December 2012][Carbon Calculator]