It’s time for post-2010 choices
11 March 2009, Bonn (Germany). A meeting of the “High-level working group on the 2010 biodiversity target and post-2010 target(s)” has provided clear and bold leadership for the next international commitments on biodiversity. The 40 participants set clear suggestions and guidelines which lay the foundations for further discussions on future targets.
An ample and well-structured roadmap of events for the forthcoming eighteen months will guide the international community towards the United Nations General Assembly in September 2010 where a new pledge for the post 2010 target is expected to be made. The gathering in Bonn was the first official opportunity to discuss the looks of the post-2010 target(s) and thus substantially advance the global biodiversity agenda.
Julia Marton-Lefevre, IUCN Director General, commented “The world needs a new target. Although the present target will not be met at all levels, it is undeniable that it has triggered substantial action. IUCN’s Countdown 2010 initiative with its current 800 partners is the demonstration that such a political target can mobilize new multiple actors towards biodiversity conservation. The post-2010 biodiversity framework proposed in Bonn today will build on these achievements and ensure greater ownership in addressing the biodiversity crisis.”
Although progress has been made at international, national and regional levels, the global 2010 target will not be achieved according to recent assessments which show that global biodiversity is still in decline. This continued loss is leading to a rapid decline of the Earth’s natural wealth and a dramatic reduction of future ecosystem services. Jochen Flasbarth, General Director of the German Minister of Environment and current President of the Bureau of the Convention on Biological Diversity stated that “Finding the leverage to influence the drivers of biodiversity loss is the real challenge for any post 2010 framework. These drivers are closely related to economic sectors. The integration of these sectors into the discussion on post-2010 cannot be disregarded”.
Peter Raven, Researcher at Missouri Botanical Garden underlined that “The next target should focus on ecosystem services and not only on biodiversity. It is much easier to explain to people how nature provides essential goods, like clean water, and use that understanding as a basis for protect species.” In view of the forthcoming negotiations on the next post-Kyoto agreement for carbon emissions in Copenhagen at the end of the year, Yolanda Kakabadse, Senior Adviser of Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano and Countdown 2010 Ambassador, stated that “The new biodiversity agenda should be closely linked to the climate change negotiations. It is unrealistic to think that we can protect biodiversity if we keep the two processes separated.”
Defining the post 2010 framework needs to take into account also recent developments and the major challenges the world is facing today. Pavan Sukhdev, Study Leader of The Economics and Ecosystem Services report underlined “The world has been changing rapidly since the adoption of the 2010 target in 2002. The current financial and food crises should be seen not only as threats, but rather as opportunities. Now it is the time to change the way we think and act.” Participants also witnessed the signing of the Countdown 2010 Declaration by the City of Bonn as a concrete demonstration that it is possible to move from words to action and implement the global 2010 target at local level.
Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the CBD, highlighted that “Communicating biodiversity will also be a key ingredient for the success of the post 2010 framework. Biodiversity, its decline and its importance to humanity’s future, has to be understood by society at large. The full engagement of all segments of the society is vital for protecting life on Earth.”
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How do YOU think the post-2010 target should look?
What key elements should a new target have? What would be the right timeline (2015, 2020, 2030,…)? How should it differ from the 2010 target? How can the next target reach a wider audience? ….
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