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Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework underway

  • Publication Date | June 23, 2022
  • Document Type | Articles & Stories
  • Programmes | Forests & Biodiversity
  • Issues | Agroecology, Biodiversity, Conservation, Food Sovereignty, Land Rights, Wildlife
  • Tags | Convention on Biological Diversity, Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
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OEWG4 Meeting, Nairobi, Kenya, June 2022 | Image © SAM

Between 21 and 26 June 2022, the United Nations (UN) Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Open Ended Working Group 4 (OEWG4) is meeting in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss the draft of a new framework for biodiversity under the CBD. More than 1300 registered participants are participating both in person and online. 

SAM is also present and following the negotiations at this meeting with Friends of the Earth International’s (FoEI) small team of representatives. 

FoEI is a part of the CBD Alliance (CBDA), an alliance of like-minded civil society organisations (CSOs) and movements following this UN space very closely, where the current discussion on the drafting of a new framework for biodiversity is ongoing. Known as the Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (the acronym GBF or the word framework are used within this article. It is one and the same), this new framework would supersede the Global Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, set for the period 2010-2020.

The GBF currently contains four goals and 21 targets and is meant to address the biodiversity crisis and to realise the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity. The draft framework includes some  targets which go the right direction such as “whole governance approach” where all government ministries must regulate their economic sectors which have an impact on biodiversity. However, clear and stringent regulations within the framework are lacking and we see a number of false solutions being put on the table including self-certification, offsetting, nature based solutions, and other neoliberal greenwashing proposals.

The current framework includes references to indigenous peoples, local communities, women, youth and civil society in the implementation processes. However, these may be under threat of being removed and put under the preambular language of the framework which may weaken the framework as a whole. Further, the framework also omits to take on a rights based approach and stops short of addressing some of the key elements on justice, equity and poverty reduction. 

Background

The decision for a new GBF was agreed to by parties* to the CBD Convention during the 14th Conference of Parties (COP) in Egypt, in November 2018. The president and host country of COP14 was Egypt. The presidency was then handed over to China to host the 15th COP. 

The discussions for the new framework began some time in 2019 with regional consultations. A zero draft was produced in Rome in 2020 and the first draft was released by the UN CBD Secretariat on 12 July 2021. The discussion on the first draft began online between August and September 2021. In March 2022, parties to the UN CBD Convention came together and met face to face for the first time in Geneva after the lifting of the global lockdown to negotiate on the first draft. The negotiations ended in Geneva with large parts of the text for the GBF still requiring further discussion and to be negotiated by parties. Hence, why we now have another OEWG meeting in Nairobi. 

COP15 originally to be held in Kunming, China in October 2020 was postponed as a result of the ongoing travel restrictions into China due to the pandemic. It was postponed three times to date and will now finally take place in Montreal, Canada between 5 and 17 December 2022.     

UN Office Nairobi | Image: © SAM

Opening plenary

The opening plenary in Nairobi, among others heard Inger Andersen, the UN Under-Secretary-General and executive director of UNEP, Francis Ogwal and Basil Van Havre, the co-chairs of the OEWG4, the president of COP15 (China), several delegates from the regions of Asia Pacific, Caribbean and Latin America, the European Union, Costa Rica, Colombia and Germany, all who while acknowledging the imminent threats to biodiversity degradation, stressed on the need to have, a robust, ambitious, slim and easy to understand text as the GBF. 

CBD Alliance statement

At the end of the opening speeches in the morning of 21 June 2022, the floor was opened to statements from various parties and organisations. The CBD Alliance presented an opening statement that called for some of the following, 

“Conservation must respect the rights of IPLCs, women, youth, and must be based on the governance and land rights of IPLCs and women. 

The opposite happens today, for example, the Maasai people are being expelled from their territories for the sake of fortress conservation and related elite tourism interests. 

We insist on the full integration of human rights considerations in all relevant targets and a self-standing target on gender.

We must address all direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss without delay. For example, industrial agriculture, including the use of pesticides, and industrialised livestock farming destroy ecosystems globally.  By contrast, agroecological farming by IPLCs and smallholders feeds billions sustainably, while increasing agricultural biodiversity.”

What happens next

We do not know how much would be achieved at the end of six days because the current framework does not directly tackle the root causes of biodiversity loss. Further, the successful implementation of this framework would also depend on solid resources especially finance, provided to developing countries, without which, this framework would clearly fail. So far, all promises are hugely insufficient.

The civil society through the CBD Alliance has recently put together a document called Ingredients for a successful post 2020 GBF for this Nairobi meeting. We hope that parties negotiating the framework would pay close attention to this document as it highlights the main elements that should form part of the framework and what should not and the reasoning behind them.   

The important question to consider now is whether we would rather have a bad deal where countries will need to settle for a compromise and sacrifice the planet for the benefit of a few or no deal at all. We look forward to the rich discussion in the coming days here in Nairobi and we urge all governments to come together and urgently address the biodiversity crisis in all sincerity and make no compromises that would further harm the little left for the future generation.

*Parties refer to countries who are signatories to the CBD


For further reading:

https://www.cbd.int

Time to tackle biodiversity loss: Draft post-2020 UN Framework not ambitious enough
How to achieve a successful Global Biodiversity Framework
Mainstreaming biodiversity proposal is dangerous and will not halt its collapse.
Current CBD negotiations not on track to prevent biodiversity collapse.

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Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah satu badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang telah sekian lama berjuang mempertahan kelestarian alam. Ia juga mendidik masyarakat tentang pentingnya kebersamaan dalam pemikiran dan tindakan agar alam ini dapat kita wariskan kepada generasi hadapan dalam keadaan yang elok dan terpelihara. Dalam pada itu juga SAM giat membantu golongan nelayan pantai dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka sehinggalah tertubuhnya Persatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING). Nelayan pantai sepenuh masa ini dididik oleh SAM sehingga mereka mampu memainkan peranan sebagai pemimpin nelayan yang meneruskan kesinambungan memperjuangkan hak-hak nelayan pantai lainnya. Sebagai contoh SAM telah berjaya menyedarkan masyarakat nelayan keperluan menjaga hutan paya bakau untuk kebaikan hasil tangkapan nelayan itu sendiri.
Jamaluddin Mohamad Bualik
Jamaluddin Mohamad BualikPersatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Jaringan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING)
During the 1980s, I used to read about the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) in the news. After retirement, some time in 2001, while lazing around, I read news about the construction of a carbon in leach plant using sodium cyanide to extract gold in Bukit Koman. My friends and I visited CAP and we were introduced to SAM and her legal team. We discussed the details of filing a case against the gold mining company and the department of environment with Ms Meenakshi Raman and her legal team. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between lawyers from SAM and many of us from Bukit Koman. We had many ups and downs in our struggle to shut down the gold mine that was causing a nuisance in our village. But, as a community we never gave up because SAM had our backs.
Hue Fui How
Hue Fui HowSecretary, Bukit Koman Ban Cyanide in Goldmining Action Committee (BCAC)
Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah sebuah NGO yang memperjuangkan nasib masyarakat luar bandar khasnya. SAM menerima aduan-aduan masyarakat dan menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi. SAM telah mewujudkan ramai aktivis-aktivis sosial dan alam sekitar. Pada era 1980 dan 90an SAM sangat dihormati oleh masyarakat dan agensi kerajaan. Apabila media sosial menguasai maklumat maka SAM pun terkesan dan masalah masyarakat terus disalurkan dengan pelbagai cara. SAM perlu mewujudkan aktivis-aktivis pelapis yang muda untuk terus membantu masyarakat. SAM juga perlu membuat perubahan supaya banyak turun kelapangan dan jangan mengharapkan laporan media sahaja. Tingkatkan prestasi sebagaimana pada zaman kegemilangan SAM di era 80-90an.
Che Ani Mt Zain
Che Ani Mt Zain
SAM taught me the importance of social activism and the role it plays in upholding the rights of people and the protection of the environment. In my experience, SAM has never hesitated to speak up in defence of people and their environment, and has gone the extra mile to champion their rights, by helping communities take their battles to the higher ups and even to the courts.
Jessica Binwani
Jessica BinwaniPublic/Private Interest Lawyer
Semenjak kami kenal SAM, banyak pengalaman dan pengetahuan yg kami dapat. Kami telah belajar cara membuat baja asli daripada SAM. Semenjak itu, bermulalah minat kami dalam aktiviti pertanian. Dengan memperolehi kemahiran dalam membuat baja asli dan penanaman lestari, kami juga telah dapat menambahkan pendapatan sampingan kami. Ini lebih baik daripada tanah kami terbiar dan tidak diusahakan. Terima kasih SAM kerana sudi memberi bantuan dan tunjuk ajar kepada Persatuan kami.
Chedo Anak Nyuwen
Chedo Anak NyuwenPersatuan Penduduk Sg Buri, Bakong, Marudi
My journey with SAM started when her community organisers took me to the meet the paddy farmers of Kedah, connecting my growing interest in environmental law with our people who struggle to work the land in the face of pollution, replacement of traditional seeds with commercial hybrids and their accompanying chemical package of fertilisers and weedicides. I then had the honour to work with SAM in the struggle for the rights of the native communities of Sarawak, in defence of their forests from massive logging and destructive mega-projects. In every issue that SAM takes up, she combines rigorous research with the realities and voices of the communities to advocate for policies and laws that care for people and nature. From the courts to the elected legislators to policy makers and implementers and to the United Nations, SAM walks side by side with the communities in Malaysia. How can I not be inspired by the vision and passion of the generations of women and men who coalesce to form SAM?
Chee Yoke Ling
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Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Headquarters)
No. 1, Jalan Joki, 11400 Penang,
Malaysia
Tel: +604 827 6930
Fax: +604 827 6932

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Marudi Office)
129A, First Floor,
Jalan Tuanku Taha,
P.O.Box 216,
98058 Marudi, Baram, Sarawak,
Malaysia
Tel & Fax: +6085 758 973

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