7 October 2014: The second report of the UN High-Level Panel on Global Assessment of Resources for Implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 concludes that the benefits of investing in measures that promote the sustainable use of biodiversity outweigh the financial costs and include multiple economic and environmental benefits.

The report, released during the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP 12), taking place in Pyeongchang, the Republic of Korea, pointed to a gap among countries and regions between investments required to meet the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and the resources currently allocated for this purpose.

The report explains how sound financial investment plans can be developed, and says that health and food security, for example, would benefit from higher investments in biodiversity initiatives. Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, High-Level Panel Chair, said countries must look for innovative ways for development investments to consider biodiversity.

The report’s recommendations also include: diversifying financial sources for biodiversity; investing in protecting marine and land ecosystems, which will also help address climate change; and strengthening dialogue between governments, the private sector and civil society on biodiversity initiatives.

In 2012, the UK-India sponsored High-Level Panel reported on ‘Resourcing the Aichi Biodiversity Targets,’ to the CBD COP 11 in Hyderabad, India. The report acknowledged uncertainties as well as time and data constraints. The COP invited the High-level Panel, which is administered by the CBD Secretariat, to continue its work and to report back to COP 12. More specifically, the Panel was asked to look more comprehensively at the investment level needed and the return derived from the benefits of meeting the Aichi Targets.

Thus, the Panel was reconstituted and its composition broadened, with the fifteen-expert Panel assessing the benefits of meeting the Aichi Biodiversity Targets by examining both the positive impacts on biodiversity directly and the wider benefits to society resulting from investments and suitable policies. [UN Press Release] [Background to the High-Level Panel] [Publication: CBD Technical Series No. 74: Regional Research in Support of the Second Phase of the High-Level Panel on Global Assessment of Resources for Implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020]