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COP15: Focus on biodiversity
COP15: Focus on biodiversity
Climate change is a primary driver of biodiversity loss. And climate change depends on biodiversity as part of the solution. So clearly the two are linked, and cannot be separated.
– Elizabeth Mrema (2022)
Elizabeth Mrema is the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD was established in 1992 following the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. COP15 is the latest meeting of the CBD, which meets every two years to discuss biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of biological diversity and the fair and equitable sharing of genetic resources.
In this video, Elizabeth shares her perspective on the nature of the relationship between the Biodiversity COP15 and COP27.
This is an additional video, hosted on YouTube.
In August 2022, the world convened in Kunming, China, where the 2050 Vision of “Living in Harmony with Nature” was released. This framework set an ambitious plan to transform the world’s relationship with biodiversity and ensure that the shared vision of living in harmony with nature is fulfilled through protection and action.
This process started with the Abidjan Summit on desertification in May, followed by the Kunming Conference on biodiversity in August and will be followed by a further Conference in Montreal, Canada in December. COP15, coupled with the COP27 Climate Change Conference, provides a real opportunity to highlight the connections between the challenges of – and the solutions to – land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change.
The publication of the World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Report 2022 highlights the alarming extent and degree of biodiversity and species loss; with global wildlife populations having declined, on average, by 69% since 1970.
This year they have produced a Youth Edition of the report which explains the causes of decline, what this means for us, and what we can all do to help reverse nature loss – as individuals, schools and communities.
This is an additional video, hosted on YouTube.
A nature-positive future needs transformative – game changing – shifts in how we produce, how we consume, how we govern, and what we finance.
– WWF (2022)
It is clear that the threat to the ecosystems of our planet – the foundations on which all life depends – has never been greater!
Should you wish to take a ‘deeper dive’, we invite you to explore the additional resources below.
This article is from the online course:
Learning for a Sustainable Future: Live at COP27
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Learning for a Sustainable Future: Live at COP27
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