UN biodiversity conference "Life in harmony, into the future"

At the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 10 CBD) and the UN Biodiversity Conference “Life in harmony, into the future” (Eng. “Leben in Harmonie, (also) into the future ”), representatives from 193 countries met in the Japanese city of Nagoya from October 18 to 29, 2010 under the Japanese chairmanship . Negotiated options, the worldwide loss of biodiversity and halt a follow-up agreement for 1992 at COP 9 (CBD) in Rio de Janeiro adopted Convention on Biological Diversity to develop (CBD). In the end, with the adoption of the Nagoya Protocol with the Aichi goals, there was a compromise that not only politicians described as a breakthrough, but which also satisfied most nature conservation associations . However, the USA, one of the largest consumers of environmental goods, did not attend the conference.

course

The thematic priorities of the conference included the adoption of a protocol on access to genetic resources, a fair share of benefits ( Access and Benefit Sharing Protocol, ABS) , the adoption of a new strategic plan for the Convention and measures against “ biopiracy ”. Financing issues for the implementation of the convention were also negotiated. The aim of the ABS protocol was to ensure that access to a country's genetic resources is regulated in a legally secure manner and that the countries of origin of such resources share fairly in the profits made by a user. One example is the development of drugs or breeds. The developing countries demanded a kind of "gene tax" when companies market active ingredients (for example in the form of drugs) that were obtained from their biological resources.

"This meeting is part of the world's effort to face a very simple fact: We are destroying life on earth"

- Achim Steiner , head of the UN environmental program UNEP

All over the world there is a desire

"To leave behind a beautiful earth with a rich biodiversity for future generations"

- Ryū Matsumoto , Minister of Environment of Japan

Almost unnoticed by the public, the leadership of the negotiations with the Japanese environment minister succeeded in what important previous corresponding UN conferences had failed: In addition to non-binding commitments, the contracting parties not only agreed specific figures and strategies for the preservation of biological diversity, they also specified a schedule for financing and combined economic interests of the emerging and developing countries with sustainable goals of the industrialized nations. Although or precisely because the expectations were low in the run-up, the Nagoya Protocol was intended to stop the trend of global species extinction for the first time and, with the help of the TEEB report (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity), put the economic component of biodiversity increasingly in the focus of the global public.

Positions

In the run-up to the conference, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation pointed out that the lack of funding for protective measures was one of the main reasons for the ongoing loss of biodiversity. This applies in particular to the poorer countries of the south, which are home to most of the world's biodiversity but do not have sufficient funds for its protection and sustainable use. The major challenge for Nagoya is to bring a credible willingness on the part of donor countries to improve global funding for biodiversity protection in the negotiations given the current tight budget situation in the member states. The incumbent German Chancellor Angela Merkel had promised at the previous conference in 2008 (CBD COP9) in Bonn that Germany would provide an additional 500 million euros by 2012, and from 2013 500 million euros annually, especially for the protection of tropical rainforests .

With the use of proceeds from European emissions trading for climate-relevant biodiversity protection, Germany had developed an instrument that its Federal Environment Ministry presented during the negotiations as a model for generating additional financial resources for biodiversity protection in other countries and regions as well.

Nature conservation associations criticized that the goals they had set themselves for 2010 were not even remotely achieved. The NABU, for example, appealed to the German federal government to work for a significant increase in environmental aid for poorer countries.

Results

On October 29, 2010 the “Nagoya Package” was passed by the 193 signatory states: It consists of a nature conservation strategy for 2020, an agreement on a binding treaty against biopiracy (ABS Protocol) and a plan to provide finance for developing countries.

Against biopiracy

Biopiracy has become a catchphrase for the continued exploitation of natural resources in the south by large corporations in the developed world, especially in states with a high level of biodiversity. Since no financial value has been assigned to biological resources so far, companies have been able to use these goods largely free of charge and without compensation for the country of origin. The same applies to the often rich gene pool in certain regions. The pharmaceutical industry in particular has been able to increase its sales considerably in recent years with preparations based on animal or vegetable substances without having to share its profit with the countries of origin. The Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Protocol stipulates, according to the will of the conference participants, that the users of biological or genetic resources must pay license fees to the home states of these raw materials. Above all, environmental associations hope that ABS will provide an economic incentive for states with high levels of biodiversity to preserve it in the future. In order to achieve planning security here, it was particularly important for the developing countries to negotiate a document that is binding under international law in Nagoya. How much this agreement is worth without the US signature will only be seen in the coming years. For this reason, too, Michael Frein, environmental expert at the Evangelical Development Service , urged caution: "What has now been passed is not a cause for euphoria from the developing countries' point of view , but a good basis for further negotiations."

Protection for land and sea

In addition to this point, the contracting parties also agreed on the establishment or expansion of nature reserves. On land, the protected areas are expected to grow to 17 percent of the total land area by 2020, and for the oceans it should still be 10 percent. The targets of 25 and 20 percent demanded before the conference ultimately failed due to resistance from India and China. These opposed the plan to declare almost a sixth of the seas to be protected areas. Both states assume that their economic growth will also depend to a considerable extent on marine products in the future or rely on the future use of raw materials such as methane hydrate or ores from the deep sea.

In the strategic plan of the convention, concrete medium to long-term goals and priorities for international biodiversity protection were set. The strategic plan aimed to significantly reduce the current rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. The global 2010 biodiversity target was not achieved overall, despite successes in individual areas at regional, national and local levels. The objectives of global biodiversity policy from 2011 to 2020 were discussed at the conference.

In addition, the delegates made decisions on numerous other topics such as:

• Biodiversity and Current Climate Change
  • Biodiversity and economy
  • Biofuels
  • Marine biodiversity
  • Forest biodiversity
• Invasive species
• Protected areas

Ratification, entry into force

By December 3, 2016, 91 states had signed the protocol with an additional 91 binding ratifications . It came into force on October 12, 2014.

Open questions

Despite the agreements on the subject of biopiracy and specific commitments on the protection of species, the abolition of climate and environmentally harmful subsidies and the conversion of the food industry towards sustainable agriculture, the conference left a few points open: The question of financing many projects in particular remained unanswered. In view of the financial crisis, representatives of the EU and Japan rejected the proposal by Brazil and other countries in the southern hemisphere to adopt a financing concept of over 200 billion US dollars. The absence of the United States of America at the conference also left a heavy burden on the implementation of the agreed goals.

Most of the conference participants rated the agreement on the ABS protocol as a success and hope that the other results will also have positive effects on global biodiversity. The incumbent German Federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen spoke of a “global signal of departure”, and representatives of the environmental associations expressed their confidence: “This is a strong signal to the global community to safeguard biodiversity and thus its own livelihood”, stated the Federal Chairman for Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND), Hubert Weiger , and international observers see the compromise as positive: "The Nagoya Protocol is a historic result", concluded Jim Leape, head of the environmental organization World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF).

Web links

• cbd.int: resolutions, documents and access to the conference website
• Umweltdialog.de: Nagoya's promises

Individual evidence

1. ↑ biodiv-network.de ( Memento from September 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).
2. ↑ nabu.de : COP 10 in Nagoya
3. ↑ A protection plan for animal and plant species. In: NZZ. October 18, 2010.
4. ↑ Conference on Biodiversity Starts in Nagoya - Decisions for International Biodiversity Conservation for the Period after 2011 - October 18, 2010 ( Memento of the original from December 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
5. ↑ October 18, 2010 ( Memento of the original from November 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. NABU. 
6. ↑ Badische-zeitung.de , Panorama , November 3, 2016: Humanity needs 1.6 earths (November 3, 2016)
7. ^ Convention on Biological Diversity , cbd.int: Status of Signature, and ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. (December 3, 2016)