1
December 2022
PDF version [543KB]
Dr Emily
Gibson and Dr Emily Hanna
Science, Technology, Environment
and Resources
At Part Two of the 15th meeting of the
Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD), to be held in Montreal, Canada, from
7 to 19 December 2022, Parties will seek to finalise the 10-year
post-2020 global biodiversity framework (GBF).
The Conference has been described as a ‘once-in-a-decade
opportunity to reset [humanity’s] relationship with nature’ and agree on
the ‘broad-based
transformative actions’ required to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by
2030 – and achieve the Convention’s 2050 Vision of a world that is ‘living
in harmony with nature’.
Overview of the Convention on
Biological Diversity
Background
In 1988, following increasing international concern about
the threats to biodiversity and recognition of its value to humanity’s economic
and social development, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
convened an Ad Hoc Working Group to examine the need for an international
agreement on biological diversity. In 1989, a further Ad Hoc Working Group was
established ‘to
prepare an international legal instrument for the conservation and sustainable
use of biological diversity’. The agreed text was adopted on 22 May 1992 at
the Nairobi Conference for the Adoption of the Convention on Biological
Diversity.
Together with the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD) was opened for signature on 5 June 1992 at
the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the ‘Earth Summit’). The
CBD came into force on 29 December 1993, and today has near-universal
membership, with 196
parties (195 State Parties, plus the European Union). Notably, the United
States of America signed, but has not ratified, the Convention. The Convention
came into force for Australia on 29 December 1993 and is one of several
international treaties that underpin the Australian Government’s role in
environmental law and management.[1]
Objectives and requirements
The Convention has 3
main objectives:
·
the conservation of biological diversity
·
the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity
·
the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the
utilization of genetic resources.
The Parties to the CBD have, to date, agreed to two 10-year
Strategic Plans which guide implementation of the Convention at the national, regional
and global levels. The most recent Strategic
Plan 2011–2020 was accompanied by the Aichi Biodiversity Targets which set
out 5 strategic goals and 20 targets.
The Convention requires Parties to develop, and regularly
report on, their own national
biodiversity strategy and action plans. This
helps to guide implementation of the Strategic Plan and the Aichi Biodiversity
Targets. The Convention also establishes a financial mechanism, facilitating the
provision of resources through the Global
Environment Facility (GEF), to support actions in developing countries.
Recognising the interactions between biodiversity, climate
and development, the Convention is intended to work in concert with other
conventions, such as the UNFCCC
and the United
Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing
Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa, as well as
other international initiatives like the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
and related international and multilateral processes.
Supplementary agreements
There are 2 supplementary agreements to the Convention:
However, Australia is not a party to the Cartagena Protocol
and has signed (on 20 January
2012) but not ratified the Nagoya Protocol.
Global declines in biodiversity
The CBD’s Global
Biodiversity Outlook 5 (Outlook Report), informed by the IPBES
(Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services) Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services,
found that ‘biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, and the
pressures driving this decline are intensifying’ (p. 2). Moreover, the IPBES
Global Assessment found that ‘around 1 million species already face
extinction, many within decades’ (p. 12). The Outlook Report concluded that,
despite progress in some countries, ‘none of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets
will be fully met, in turn threatening the achievement of the Sustainable
Development Goals and undermining efforts to address climate change’ (p. 2).
State of biodiversity in Australia
Australia is one of 17 megadiverse
countries, with high levels of unique endemic plants and animals. However,
the 2021 State of the Environment
report highlights the declining state of Australia’s biodiversity and
ecosystems. At the time of writing, 1,973 species of plants
and animals
and 103 ecological
communities were listed as threatened (including 105 listed as extinct or
extinct in the wild) under Australia’s national environmental
law. Australia has the highest
rate of mammal extinctions globally, and now has more
introduced plant species than native plant species.
Australia’s
Strategy for Nature 2019–2030 provides the overarching framework for
national, state and territory and local strategies, laws, polices and actions
that aim to protect nature. The recently revised Threatened
Species Action Plan 2022–32 maps out the Australian Government’s
plan for protecting,
managing and restoring threatened species and important natural places. One
of the key objectives of the plan is to prevent new extinctions. The plan also
commits to ‘protect and conserve more than 30% of Australia’s land mass’ (p. 9)
and to tackle the impacts of invasive species.
What will be decided at COP15?
Meetings of the Conference of the Parties are usually held every 2 years. COP15 was originally
scheduled to occur in October 2020 but was delayed
due to the COVID–19 pandemic and other international events. Due to this delay,
the Strategic Plan 2011–2020 expired
without a new GBF being agreed to take its place.
Part One of COP15 was held online, hosted in Kunming, China,
from 11 to 15 October 2021. The main outcome was the Kunming Declaration ‘Ecological
Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth’. The
Declaration reaffirmed the global political commitment to tackling the
biodiversity crisis and to continue to progress the post-2020 GBF.
Draft post-2020 global biodiversity
framework
In August 2019, a special CBD Working Group requested the
preparation of a zero draft of the post-2020 GBF. The zero
draft, representing an initial draft of important points and ideas, was
released in January 2020,
followed by an updated zero
draft in August 2020 and a
first draft in July 2021. As might be expected, there has been a
substantial change in the language of the proposed framework throughout the
negotiation process. For example, the zero draft headline 2050 goal of reducing
the percentage of species threatened with extinction by [X%] (p. 8) appears in
the first draft as a 2030 milestone of halting or reversing the increase in
extinction rate and reducing extinction risk by at least 10% (p. 5).
The first
draft identifies 4 long-term goals for 2050, with a number of corresponding
milestones to assess progress through to 2030. The headline goals are (pp.
5–6):
Goal A The
integrity of all ecosystems is enhanced, with an increase of at least 15 per
cent in the area, connectivity and integrity of natural ecosystems, supporting
healthy and resilient populations of all species, the rate of extinctions has
been reduced at least tenfold, and the risk of species extinctions across all
taxonomic and functional groups, is halved, and genetic diversity of wild and
domesticated species is safeguarded, with at least 90 per cent of genetic
diversity within all species maintained.
Goal B
Nature’s contributions to people are valued, maintained or enhanced through
conservation and sustainable use supporting the global development agenda for
the benefit of all.
Goal C
The benefits from the utilization of genetic resources are shared fairly and
equitably, with a substantial increase in both monetary and non-monetary
benefits shared, including for the conservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity.
Goal D
The gap between available financial and other means of implementation, and
those necessary to achieve the 2050 Vision, is closed.
The proposed framework also comprises 21 action-oriented
targets for 2030, including:
- protecting at least 30% of land areas and sea areas, especially
those of particular importance for biodiversity, in well-managed protected area
systems (Target 3)
- reducing all forms of pollution, including by reducing nutrient
loss by at least 50%, pesticides by at least 66% and eliminating the discharge
of plastic waste (Target 7)
- minimising the impact of climate change on biodiversity and
facilitating the use of nature-based solutions to contribute at least 10 GtCO2-e
[giga tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent] per year to global mitigation
efforts (Target 8)
- ensuring the benefits of biodiversity for people by sustainable
management of wild biodiversity and preserving indigenous peoples and local
communities’ customary sustainable use (Target 9)
- reforming, redirecting or eliminating incentives (including
subsidies) harmful to biodiversity by at least US$500 billion per year (Target
18)
- increasing financial resources to support implementation of the
post-2020 GBF to at least US$200 billion per year while increasing support to
developing countries by at least US$10 billion per year (Target 19)
- ensuring equitable and effective participation of indigenous
peoples and local communities in biodiversity decision-making (Targets 20 and
21).
As with the previous Strategic Plans, the post-2020 GBF (p.
2):
will be supported by three additional documents: (a) a
monitoring framework with headline indicators, (b) a glossary with a definition
of terms used in the framework, and (c) supporting technical information on
each draft goal and target.
Interactions between climate change
and biodiversity
A joint
report from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and IPBES
described ‘climate change impacts and biodiversity loss as two of the most
important challenges and risks for human societies’ (p. 14). In summary:
climate change exacerbates risks to biodiversity and natural
and managed habitats; at the same time, natural and managed ecosystems and
their biodiversity play a key role in the fluxes of greenhouse gases, as well
as in supporting climate adaptation.
Ecosystem degradation through land-use change, such as
clearance of biodiverse forests and degradation of coastal ecosystems like
mangroves and seagrass beds, disrupts natural carbon stocks and sequestration,
contributing to cumulative carbon dioxide emissions and further driving climate
change (p. 14).
The ‘champions
of the Paris Agreement’ to the UNFCCC recently stated:
There is no pathway to limiting global warming to 1.5C
without action on protecting and restoring nature.
In fact, the Outlook Report estimates that one third
of the net reductions in greenhouse gas emissions required to meet the Paris
Agreement’s goals could come from ‘nature-based solutions’ (p. 18).
As noted above, the links between biodiversity and climate
change are explicitly recognised in proposed Target 8 of the 2030 action
targets.
At the 26th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the
UNFCCC (COP26), held in Glasgow, UK in November 2021, over 140 world leaders
representing 90% of the world’s forests committed
to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. At the 27th
meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP27), held in Sharm
el-Shiekh, Egypt in November 2022, the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership
was launched. The Partnership aims to ‘boost action’ to ‘convert
ambition into results on the ground’.
Australian Government commitments
aligned with the proposed post-2020 GBF
The Australian Government has signed up to a range of
international initiatives that are aligned with the proposed action-oriented
targets in the post-2020 GBF.[2]
These include:
Concluding comment
The second
independent review of Australia’s national environment law (Samuel Review; October
2020) found that the law was ineffective
at protecting Australia’s biodiversity. The Minister for the Environment,
Tanya Plibersek, has committed to delivering
a full response to the review before the end of 2022. This is expected to
result in major
reforms in 2023 and will be critical for reversing the decline in
Australia’s biodiversity.
Relevant overviews are contained in the Parliamentary
Library’s Briefing Book for the 47th Parliament article on Reform
of Australia’s national environmental law and October 2022 Budget Review
article on the Environment.
While there remains much
to be negotiated at COP15 (p. 42), the implementation of a science-based
post-2020 GBF is critical to preserving the world’s biodiversity and supporting
the delivery of a host of related international commitments, including
contributions to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
[1].
Other relevant conventions are the Convention
for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Convention
on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat
(the Ramsar Convention), Convention
on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (the Bonn
Convention), the Agreement
between the Government of Australia and the Government of Japan for the
Protection of Migratory Birds in Danger of Extinction and their Environment,
the Agreement
between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Republic of Korea
on the Protection of Migratory Birds.
[2].
Scott Morrison (Prime Minister) and Sussan Ley (Minister for the
Environment), ‘Australia
joins international alliance to conserve planet’s biodiversity’, media
release, 14 June 2021; Chris Bowen (Minister for Climate Change and Energy),
Tanya Plibersek (Minister for the Environment and Water) and Murray Watt
(Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry), ‘Australia
joins forests partnership to drive climate-action’, media release, 8
November 2022; Chris Bowen and Tanya Plibersek, ‘Australia
joins international Mangrove Alliance for climate’, media release, 11
November 2022; Tanya Plibersek, ‘Australia
joins global efforts to end plastic pollution’, media release, 16 November
2022.
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