Convention on Biological Diversity

About: Convention on Biological Diversity is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2232 publications have been published within this topic receiving 65599 citations. The topic is also known as: CBD & United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

International targets and environmental policy integration: The 2010 Biodiversity Target and its impact on international policy and national implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract: International environmental policy has evolved from a focus on single issues to more integrated approaches under the framework of sustainable development. This transition has been accompanied by a growing use of targets among international organisations. Targets have long been used in industry and corporate planning, but some have questioned their relevance in the ambit of environmental and sustainable development policy. This paper addresses the question of whether international targets help advance environmental policy integration in international governance. It explores whether the international target of significantly reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2002, enabled co-ordination and coherence in international biodiversity governance. The effects of the Target on the cluster of biodiversity-related conventions and their implementation in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are examined. The analysis is based on official documents and interviews with secretariat officials, international experts and national focal points conducted between September 2011 and April 2012. A claim is made that the 2010 Biodiversity Target was, in essence, a conservation goal that did not fully honour the CBD's sustainable development mission. The Target triggered increased co-operation in the biodiversity cluster without bringing greater alignment of policies and implementation activities around the CBD's sustainability principles. The study suggests that, if targets are to advance EPI among international institutions, they need to be appropriated by relevant stakeholders and supported by implementation strategies that secure their continuous commitment.

Challenges and solutions for networking knowledge holders and better informing decision-making on biodiversity and ecosystem services

Abstract: How to effectively inform decision-making on biodiversity and ecosystem services has been under continuous debate in Europe and globally since the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted in 1992. On the global level the Intergovernmental science–policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services was installed in 2012 to address this need. Yet, biodiversity and ecosystem services management have to be addressed on multiple levels, across biophysical as well as administrative scales. Also, the knowledge needed to address them has to be brought together from science, management practices and other knowledge domains to become relevant and it must be delivered in ways relevant for policies beyond the environmental sector. This Special Issue brings together papers that analyse the challenges arising from this context. Most of them are based on the EU-funded project KNEU that aimed at developing a new, integrative approach to activate knowledge holders and bring them together for targeted knowledge synthesis activities. The papers address the potential functions, structures and processes of such activities in a joint framework, the Network of Knowledge. Practical aspects are addressed via a number of trial assessments carried out in the project. All in all, they showcase new ways of knowledge synthesis that have the potential to complement and strengthen existing ones across scales and sectors, thus supporting an improved management of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Does the Convention on Biodiversity Safeguard Biological Diversity

Abstract: This paper attempts to assess and evaluate some of the economic implications of the Convention on Biological Diversity. After outlining the main principles and the scope of this Convention, the following issues are addressed: the determination of the 'optimal' level of biodiversity loss, the meaning of incremental costs, and monetary evaluation problems of ecological resources and the problems it poses for the funding mechanism (GEF). The paper concludes with a discussion of the issues of commercialisation and access to genetic resources.

Finance for nature: A global estimate of public biodiversity investments

Abstract: Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will meet at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP 15) to carve out a post-2020 framework for global biodiversity conservation. Finance will be among the priority concerns. No global estimates of public biodiversity investments are in the peer reviewed literature. The methodology developed by the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) provides a means for countries to account systematically for their biodiversity expenditures. Importantly, budget lines that intentionally, but secondarily, affect biodiversity outcomes are assigned a percentage at which they can be attributed to biodiversity. A sample of thirty countries facilitated the construction of a panel to predict public biodiversity investments at a global level. Here we show that global public biodiversity investments have increased steadily to an average of US$121 billion invested annually from 2008–2017, or 0.19–0.25% of global GDP. Our data not only indicate an increasing trend in total biodiversity investment, but also an increase in the percentage of total public domestic investment dedicated to biodiversity.