World governments met in Nairobi Kenya from June 20-26, 2022 for the 4th meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (WG2020-OEWG-4). The meeting is a continuation of deliberations running over 2 years both physically and virtually, critical to advancing an ambitious and transformative post-2020 global biodiversity framework to safeguard nature. The meeting has been held when momentum is being built towards the second phase of the 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in Montreal Canada from December 5 to 17, 2022 under the presidency of the Government of China.
The WG2020-OEWG-4 sought agreements on actions to reach the CBD’s 2050 Vision of living in harmony with nature in line with the milestones of the 2030 Agenda. These actions include addressing the five drivers of biodiversity loss, namely, land sea use change, unsustainable exploitation, climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species – and relevant indirect drivers such as unsustainable production and consumption. At the same time, the meeting deliberated on the defining how international actions towards commitments would be tracked and reported. The question on how success would be defined and measured was also deliberated upon. Parties worked to develop a plan for resource mobilization and other means of implementation and highlighted the contribution of nature to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Also up for discussion was the topic on access to digital sequence information from genetic resources and how to share the benefits from their use. Their discussions also strengthened the role of Indigenous peoples, local communities, women, youth, and other stakeholders, to ensure that all voices will be heard, and no one will be left behind.
“I want to thank the Parties for their hard work, their commitment to consensus, and honest engagement in these negotiations” said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. “These efforts are considerable and have produced a text that, with additional work, will be the basis for reaching the 2050 vision of the Convention: a life in harmony with nature.”
The Montreal meeting in December 2022 will comprise of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. https://www.cbd.int/meetings/COP-15; the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. https://www.cbd.int/meetings/CP-MOP-10; and the 4th meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing. https://www.cbd.int/meetings/NP-MOP-04.
For more details on the proceeding of the meeting, please visit https://www.cbd.int/conferences/post2020/media