Biodiversity and ecosystems means much more than saving whales and pretty landscapes: it is instrumental in reducing poverty and achieving sustainable development. By contrast, the loss of biodiversity – habitats, crops, animal breeds – threatens to negate decades of development gains, and those most harshly affected will be the world's most vulnerable people. Overcoming environmental degradation is an act of justice. Strong laws backing empowered people can make the difference.
The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Development signals a milestone in awareness of the interconnected nature of environmental and development goals. Success will require bringing people across society for transformative shifts towards more sustainable choices. IDLO has been working since 2011 to advance discussions on the role of the rule of law for environmental sustainability – raising awareness about innovative new legal norms for sustainability and working hand-in-hand with national lawyers around the world to share legal breakthroughs.
From December 7 - 14, 2016, almost 10,000 representatives from the 196 Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as well as NGOs, indigenous and local communities, international organizations, and other stakeholders will meet in Cancun, Mexico, for the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties - commonly known as
Dealing with ecosystem degradation has long been seen as the purview of environmentalists alone. With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), biodiversity has been recognized as essential to human resilience and economic opportunity, and its preservation requires action from all sectors of society.
The entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol in 2014 represented a major milestone in the global commitment to promote access and benefit sharing (ABS) of the use of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way. As of August 2017, 100 Parties in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) had ratified the Nagoya Protocol, and many now need to adopt national measures to operationalize it at the domestic level.
Participants from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean joined workshops, organized by IDLO in The Hague, Guatemala and Bali, to explore legal frameworks for implementing the Nagoya Protocol.
“Overcoming environmental destruction is an act of justice”, said Helene Molinier, IDLO’s Program Manager of Strategic Initiatives, at the opening of Connecting the Dots Across the SDGs: Lessons in Biodiversity Mainstreaming.
CONNECTING THE DOTS ACROSS THE SDGS - Lessons learned from biodiversity mainstreaming
This July as every late July, many Romans fled their city. In their place came hundreds of thousands of international visitors. For the overwhelming majority, the trip was about relaxation; for others, it was about studying and a sense of public mission.
Excitement shone out of the stream of emails flowing through Rome headquarters late on Thursday. IDLO, it turned out, had just been picked by the UN to lead a new project: ensuring that signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity can meet their commitments.
What are the challenges and opportunities for using laws for biodiversity? IDLO, the CBD Secretariat and the Swiss Federal Office of the Environment, together with partners, will host a global forum to foster peer-to-peer sharing of country experiences.
