IN ANTICIPATION of the discussions to take place at the 13 meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP 13) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) later this year, Latin American and Caribbean Ministers of Environment have adopted a decision to enhance implementation of the Convention and its Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.The conference will take place in Cancun, Mexico, in December 2016. A press release from CBD noted that the decision supports actions to mainstream biodiversity into productive sectors, and to implement regional and sub-regional plans to support implementation efforts.
“This is a very positive decision and shows that the region is prepared to move forward on key mainstreaming issues for biodiversity,” the CBD quoted Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity as saying.
It was further noted that “momentum towards a successful COP 13 has now been clearly established.”
In the decision, taken at the 20th Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean in Cartagena, Colombia, ministers agreed to promote, at COP 13, the adoption of decisions in support of holistic and integrated approaches towards mainstreaming biodiversity, including the strengthening of legal and institutional frameworks, and to link this with communication strategies targeted at relevant sectors.
According to the release, ministers recognized the importance of the restoration agenda in agreeing to build support for a decision at COP 13 that would provide financing for ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems and their ecosystem functions, taking into account issues of connectivity with protected areas.
“Ministers also agreed to develop a Regional Cooperation Programme on Biodiversity to help build national capacities for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in addition to the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity,” the release stated.
It was noted that the programme will focus on a number of strategic sectors, including agriculture and cattle raising, forestry, mining, exploitation of hydrocarbons, energy, fisheries and tourism sectors, and would include measures to encourage active participation of other actors, including local governments, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities, civil society and social movements.
The release stated that there was agreement to support ongoing work on the elaboration of a Caribbean Biodiversity Strategy for Small Island Developing States, as an important means of enhancing the implementation of the Convention in the Caribbean Basin.