Action Agenda Newsletter on Biodiversity Commitments: Issue 1, 2021
Reversing Biodiversity Loss and Promoting Positive Gains to 2030
The Sharm El-Sheikh to Kunming Action Agenda for Nature and People is an initiative spearheaded by the governments of China and Egypt, with support of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The purpose is to, within this decade, build engagement with non-state actors in order to inform, inspire and showcase voluntary commitments, raise awareness on the urgency, ambition, and actions necessary to reduce the drivers of biodiversity loss and make a shift toward nature positive outcomes. As of 24 February 2021, the Action Agenda has 169 commitments, featuring actions carried out by, among others, governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and academic and research institutes.
The CBD Secretariat recently launched the Action Agenda Newsletter on Biodiversity Commitments to create awareness of the methodologies used to track progress in support of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, enhance the profiling of commitments from non-state actors, and to further help raise ambition for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, while contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Table of Contents
Statements:
-Ms. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)  |
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Welcome to the first bi-annual issue of the Action Agenda Newsletter on Biodiversity Commitments. The newsletter is geared towards enhancing the profiling of commitments from non-state actors to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. The newsletter showcases commitments from some of these contributors and the critical role they play in creating solutions to halt biodiversity loss. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the contributors to the Action Agenda. We need to see concrete actions taken by everyone if we are to achieve our goal of “Reversing Biodiversity Loss and Promoting Positive Gains to 2030”. Please make your commitment on the Acton Agenda. |
-His Excellency Mr. Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China  |
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With the Action Agenda, Egypt is passing on the baton of conservation to China, which ushers in the new era of ecological civilization: building a shared future for all life on Earth. It is our hope that the Action Agenda can inspire all Parties and stakeholders to take part in CBD COP 15, make contributions to the development and implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and create win-win results through collaboration. It is also our hope that all people, regardless of race, gender, age, background and identity can contribute the best of their abilities to protect biodiversity. |
- Her Excellency Ms. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment of the Arab Republic of Egypt and President of the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 14) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)  |
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We need to work with people and groups of people from all sectors and all backgrounds and invite them to make their own commitments. |
Biodiversity Commitments:
-The City of Montreal, North America/Stewardship and Urban Sustainability  |
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The City of Montreal, Canada, together with ICLEI-Cities Biodiversity Center, CitiesWithNature and the CBD Secretariat, developed six briefing sheets on concrete biodiversity initiatives specifying 2030 action targets from the zero draft of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Topics include ecosystems management in large parks; conservation of wildlife trees; renewed and improved wildlife observatories; urban wildlife passages; environmental action days and coexistence with coyotes. The aim is to help replicate the initiative in other cities and inspire urban communities to action and accelerate the international movement to create green cities around the world. Click to view the commitment |
-The Algerian Bat Group, Africa/Conservation and Sustainable Use of Species and Stewardship
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Algerian Bat Group, a non-governmental organization, pledged to raise awareness to different ministries (e.g. agriculture, environment and health) as well as to local communities to manufacture and install perches in towns and villages for bats from 2021 to 2023. The aim is to raise awareness of these species and their services to humans. Actions will include workshops as well as advocacy on the regulation of harmful insects to agriculture to prevent public health challenges. Click to view the commitment |
-The China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation’s Anti Electrofishing Network, Asia/ Freshwater Ecosystems, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Species, and Stewardship  |
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China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation’s Anti Electrofishing Network, a non-governmental organization, has pledged to safeguard freshwater ecosystems. With more than 15,000 volunteers, their plan is to encourage people to participate in fighting illegal fishing. Activities include to raise awareness and promote technical assistance. Click to view the commitment |
-The Brazilian Business Commitment for Biodiversity, Latin America/Sustainable Consumption and Production
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Brazilian Business Commitment for Biodiversity, Brazil, with 14 large companies including Bayer, aims to highlight the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services for companies, as well as the fundamental role that they can play in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, from sustainable consumption and production patterns. The commitments are premised on the alignment to national and global strategic plans on biodiversity, seeking to contribute to national and global objectives and goals. Click to view the commitment. |
- The Kering Company, Europe/Sustainable Consumption and Production
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Kering a French private company that owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and other clothing brands, committed to have a net positive impact on biodiversity by 2025. Their commitment includes regenerating and protecting 1 million hectares of farms and rangelands in their supply chain landscapes through a Regenerative Nature Fund for materials they produce (e.g. leather, cotton, cashmere and wool). Click to view the commitment |
-Total, Global/Sustainable Consumption and Production
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Total, an international broad energy company headquartered in France, recently unveiled new biodiversity commitments aimed at stopping biodiversity loss. These commitments include four main pillars of action: the first pillar focuses on maintaining its voluntary exclusion zones, which include UNESCO World Heritage Sites and Arctic sea ice areas, for their exploration and production operations; the second concerns biodiversity management in new projects, vowing to implement specific action plans to minimize negative impacts if located in IUCN category I to IV areas and Ramsar wetlands; the third pillar pledges to improve existing pojects, for example by identifying opportunities to create areas rich in biodiversity as part of their redevelopment process; and, the final pillar promotes biodiversity by making the data generated in their environmental assessments available to scientists and academics on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility platform, and by promoting biodiversity through its Total Foundation, focusing in particular on their youth education initiatives, its support of research on climate, coastal areas and oceans, as well as employee volunteering via its Action! citizenship program. Click to view the commitment |
- Karner Blue Capital, Global/Sustainable Consumption and Production
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Karner Blue Capital (KBC), an Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)registered investment adviser, is committed to investing in businesses that protect biodiversity. The firm invests across a broad range of industries and market-capitalizations seeking forward-looking companies that are developing innovative solutions to preserve biodiversity. KBC is part of the Finance for Biodiversity pledge, a group of 37 private financial institutions comprised mainly of banks and investment advisers that have committed by 2024 to, among other things, develop and share biodiversity indicators; incorporate criteria for biodiversity in environmental, social and governance ESG policies; and encourage companies to report on and publicly disclose their impacts on biodiversity. An overview of KBC’s nature-based investment approach is available at: https://karnerbluecapital.com/thought-leadership/. Click to view the commitment |
- The Rights of Mother Earth, Global/Access and benefit-sharing and Conservation and restoration of land ecosystem and Conservation
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The Rights of Mother Earth, a global non-governmental organization in cooperation with 50 organizations, initiated a global petition for the UN to adopt a Declaration of Rights of Mother Earth. The aim is to collect 1 million signatures by 2022 to complement the Human Rights Declaration. Their partner, the Right of Nature, was the underlying basis for the recent inclusion of information from the declaration in the zero draft of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework: "Consider and recognize, where appropriate, the rights of nature." To ensure that the Convention reaches its targets and the Vision of Living in Harmony with Nature by 2050, the aim is to transform the human-nature relationship.Click to view the commitment |
-The Global Fund for Coral Reef, Global/Freshwater, Coastal and Oceans Ecosystems, Food Systems and Health and Green Finance
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The Global Fund for Coral Reefs, launched in 2020 by five organizations including UNDP, UNEP and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, aims to mobilize public and private resources to support developing countries to meet their commitments under the new post-2020 global biodiversity framework. The plan includes mobilizing capital and grant funding for a number of projects to protect coral reefs and the people who rely on them for food, livelihoods and coastal protection. The target is to mobilize at least $500 million by 2030.Click to view the commitment |
-The Institute of Genetics and Cytology in Belarus, Eastern Europe/Biosafety  |
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The Institute of Genetics and Cytology, an academic institute in Belarus, will apply comprehensive laboratory control of unauthorized living modified organisms (LMOs) in seeds, LMOs in food and feed chains and LMOs in raw materials intended for food and feed. The commitment aims to strengthen LMO detection and identification systems. This will be achieved by developing standard operational procedures on the screening and identification of LMOs in Belarus by 2022. Click to view the commitment |
Useful Information
The useful information section has information on recent updates related to the Action Agenda.
New Action Agenda home page
New statistics section
New search features 
New criteria 
New news and stories (e.g. articles, video message) section 
New frequently asked questions section
Key notification: UNEA-5 Virtual Side Event: “Strengthening Non-State Actor Commitments for Biodiversity in the context of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and Sustainable Development Goals”
Key notification: Stepping up ambition towards the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework: Call for commitments and actions through the Sharm El-Sheikh to Kunming Action Agenda for Nature and People
Statistics
The statistics section has information on the recent number of commitments and other relevant statistics based on the commitment categories.
169 commitments
(As of 24 February 2021)
Statistics on stakeholders, categories and regions (Some commitments address multiple stakeholders, categories and regions)
(As of end of December 2020)
Events
The events section has information on recent and upcoming events related to the Action Agenda.
Recent Events
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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the CBD Secretariat, organized a session at the Nature Hub/UN Biodiversity Summit. The session, “Creating a Nature-Based Planetary Safety Net”, held 28 September 2020, identified reasons for hope in national and local action on biodiversity, and key elements required for achieving success. These include , bold political will, coherent and aligned government policies, integration and alignment of a wide range of economic sectors, adequate resource mobilization, and decisive action. (Link to recording) |
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The Every Woman Hope Centre (EWHC) organized, in collaboration with the CBD Secretariat, a webinar “Motivating strategic plans and actions for public awareness on biosafety and biodiversity, to enhance partnership with nature”. The event, held 8 December 2020, aimed to foster communication to ensure that by 2025, people are aware of the meaning and values of biosafety and biodiversity, as well as steps they can take to use them for sustainable development. (Link to upcoming recording and outcome) |
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The governments of Egypt and China, in collaboration with the CBD Secretariat , organized a virtual side event, “Strengthening Non-State Actor Commitments for Biodiversity in the context of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and SDGs” on the margins of the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5). The side event took place 18 February 2021 and aimed to underscore how non-state actor commitments support the urgency of action and ambition on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. More information… (Link to recording: YouTube or /GoToWebinar) |
Upcoming Events
- Technical webinar in making a commitment in the Action Agenda, March 2021
- Online event on the Action Agenda and biosafety, TBA
- UN Biodiversity Conference in 2021, Action Days
Make a pledge Editors:
Ulrika Nilsson
Catalina Santamaria
Johan Hedlund
Contact information:
action.agenda@cbd.int
Supported by the European Union
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Disclaimer: The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the two secretariats, nor does citing of trade names or commercial processes constitute endorsement.
