It is the GBF that will guide humanity to make a new deal for nature, and launch an all-of-society effort for a transformative change. The CBD NGO Parallel Forum, held on 27-28 September this year, highlighted the non-state actors’ contributions to biodiversity including foundations, indigenous communities and transborder initiatives.

At the recently concluded IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille, over 1,500 government and civil society members called for a post-pandemic nature-based recovery. In September this year, multiple events bolstered anticipations leading up to the major global gathering. The real negotiations around the GBF will only be concluded in-person in 2022. The already twice delayed Kunming CBD COP15 meeting is split into two phases: October 2021 and April/May 2022. According to GBO-5, none of the 20 Aichi targets have been fully met. Although some progress has been achieved, the severe loss of ecosystem services and the trajectory of 1 million species extinction have not been fully stemmed. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15 will draw on its 196 parties to negotiate and settle the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) which will guide the pathway from now until 2030 and reinforce the 2050 vision. For some, it is an irony that wildlife is even more eager than the world leaders to gather in Kunming to talk about biodiversity conservation. This event illustrates the severity of the crisis the biosphere is facing. This summer, a family of wild Asian elephants in Yunnan Province of China left their original habitat and ventured 500 kilometres north towards the provincial capital Kunming.

All eyes will be on China next year for COP15 part two as pressure mounts on businesses to play their part in protecting biodiversity.

Although progress has been made towards finalising the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework more action is needed.

As part one of the UN’s COP15 biodiversity summit ends in China, we look at what’s been achieved so far.

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum.Īuthor: Zhang Bowen, Deputy Secretary-General, SEE Foundation

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