Decision COP XIII/6
CBD/COP/DEC/XIII/6
Biodiversity and human health
(a)Biodiversity gives rise to benefits for human health, including directly as a source of foods, nutrition, traditional medicines and biomedical discovery, and indirectly as a source of clean water, clothes, heating and shelter, by underpinning ecosystem functioning and resilience and the provision of essential ecosystem services and by providing options for adapting to changing needs and circumstances, and to climate change; biodiversity in urban environments contributes to a feeling of well-being by stimulating physical exercise, providing clean air, and improving mental well-being, among others;
Noting also that recognition of the health benefits of biodiversity reinforces the rationale for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and thus contributes to the development of national biodiversity strategies and action plans, the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets,
Recognizing that the health benefits of biodiversity are influenced by socioeconomic factors and may be specific to local ecosystems and cultures, that men and women often have different roles in the management of natural resources and family health, and that poor and vulnerable communities, women and children are often particularly directly dependent on biodiversity and ecosystems for food, medicines, clean water, and other health related services,
2.Invites Parties and other Governments, to consider using the State of Knowledge Review and its key messages, as appropriate, to promote the understanding of health biodiversity linkages with a view to maximizing health benefits, addressing trade-offs, and where possible, addressing common drivers for health risks and biodiversity loss;
(b)To consider relevant health-biodiversity linkages in developing and updating relevant national policies and programmes, strategies, plans, and accounts including health strategies, such as national environmental health action plans, national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and sustainable development and poverty eradication strategies;
(b)To develop and compile toolkits, including good practice guides, aimed at raising awareness and enhancing co-benefits of biodiversity and health, including in the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals;
(a)To collaborate with the World Health Organization and other relevant organizations, to promote and facilitate implementation of the present decision, including through wide dissemination of the State of Knowledge Review in the six official languages of the United Nations, the development of toolkits and good practice guides (including on “One Health”), support to capacity-building, and by convening a meeting of the interagency liaison group on biodiversity and human health co-convened by the Secretariat and the World Health Organization, as well as the tasks set out in paragraph 9 of decision XII/21;
- Body
- Conference of the Parties (COP)
- Meeting
- COP-134 - 17 December, 2016Cancun, Mexico
- Subjects
- 4 1 Health and Biodiversity 1 Agricultural Biodiversity 1 Marine and Coastal Biodiversity 1 Invasive Alien Species
- Decision document
- Biodiversity and human health
- Documents
- CBD/HB/LG/2017/1/1
- Related decisions