TY - JOUR AU - Manchikanti, Padmavati AB - The first part of the fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-15) took place online and at Kunming, China, on 11–15 October. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the dates for the second part of COP-15 are yet to be confirmed. The concurrent meetings, along with COP-15 to the CBD, are the tenth Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Cartagena Protocol, MOP-10) and the fourth Meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (Nagoya Protocol, MOP-4). The pre-COP meeting was conducted by Columbia, in consultation with the CBD Secretariat, on 30 August. Participants urged the need for further actions and support for the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The three specific objectives of this high-level political commitment are: the need to promote agreements regarding the critical elements in relation to the new GBF in terms of sustainable consumption and production patterns and integration of biodiversity in productive sectors and means of implementation; the identification of ways to articulate key international alliances and coalitions on biodiversity, environment, and sustainable recovery; and the encouragement of early announcements for the implementation of the new GBF. The high-level segment that concluded on 13 October was on the theme Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth. It featured a Leaders’ Summit, plenary, and roundtable discussions. Three panels were formed to discuss the following aspects: (i) Panel 1: What does ‘ecological civilization’ mean for food, health, jobs, trade, and education?; (ii) Panel 2: How to align finance and building capacity for an ecological civilization?; and (iii) Panel 3: How promoting synergistic action for biodiversity, climate, land and oceans can contribute to implementing the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework? Further, four roundtable discussions were held on 12–13 October on the following aspects: putting biodiversity on a path to recovery; closing the financing gap and ensuring the means of implementation; biodiversity conservation; and sustainable development and knowledge, innovation, and benefit-sharing. This report discusses the key developments in relation to COP-15: compliance in relation to the Cartagena Protocol and the Nagoya Protocol. (1) The Adoption of the Kunming Declaration: The Kunming Declaration was adopted by the High Level segment of COP-15 on 13 October (). Based on the relevance of the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the declaration stresses that land/sea use change, over-exploitation, climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species are the main drivers of biodiversity loss. It calls for integrated and urgent action to reflect biological diversity considerations in all sectors of the global economy. In order to achieve this mandate, seventeen points have been considered, such as ensuring the adoption and implementation of the GBF mainstreaming conservation, strengthening and updating the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, improving area-based conservation efforts, enhancing the global environmental legal framework, increasing the use of ecosystem-based approaches, reducing negative effects of human activities on the ocean to protect marine biodiversity, and enabling full and effective participation of indigenous people and local communities. It was decided that the declaration will be submitted to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, the 2022 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, and the second part of the fifth UN Environment Assembly. (2) Proposed Interim Budget for the Conference Under Decision 15/1, the proposed interim budget for the Convention program, the extension of the budget for the biennium 2019–20, and a core interim budget for this year were considered. The adoption of a regular budget will take place at the second part of the COP meeting. On an exceptional basis, the parties will consider the approval of the interim budget for 2022. (3) Article 8(j) and Related Provisions The Ad Hoc Open ended Intersessional Working Group on Article 8(j) of the CBD and related provisions adopted four recommendations in regard to the in-depth dialogue on the thematic areas and other cross-cutting issues. The relevance of encouraging and incorporating the contribution of indigenous peoples and local communities, adopting the voluntary guidelines, and the role of languages in the intergenerational transmission of traditional knowledge, innovation, and practices were emphasized. In regard to the recommendation on the development of a new program of work, in Annex I, the draft objectives, general principles, and elements of work related to the implementation were outlined. The monitoring of the program will be done through the indications for status and trends in traditional knowledge to draw links between biological and cultural diversity and utilize the support of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and other relevant bodies. Annex II deals with the suggested activities outlined under six different components: sustainable use, conservation and restoration, sharing of benefits from genetic resources, knowledge and culture, protection of indigenous people and local communities and traditional knowledge through the application of guidelines under Article 8(j), and full and effective participation of Indigenous people and local communities. The identification of institutional arrangements for the full and effective participation of the indigenous people and local communities was another recommendation. The joint program for the work on links between biological diversity and cultural diversity was established as a recommendation to recognize natural and cultural heritage and diversity as drivers for sustainable development. Several elements and tasks under each element were identified (). (4) Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) The open-ended working group on the GBF prepared the first draft of the GBF at the third meeting between 28 August and 3 September. This draft takes into account the outcome of the virtual meetings of Part I of the twenty-fourth Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) and the third meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) as well as the thematic consultations. Three key aspects that were considered for the preparation of the draft are: (i) the framework is intended to be used not only under the CBD but also under other biodiversity-related conventions; (ii) the decision to adopt the GBF at the COP so that the obligations for reporting, review, and means of implementation are identified; and (iii) the endorsement and adoption of the draft. There are several aspects of the draft that are relevant in terms of the potential contributions and the tasks identified for implementation. The draft will primarily contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Further, it is built on the ‘Theory of Change’ that recognizes the need for global, regional, national, and sub-national policy action to build the economic, social, and financial models to mitigate biodiversity loss and eventually help in the recovery of natural ecosystems for the net improvement of biodiversity by 2020 to meet the convention’s vision of ‘living in harmony with nature by 2050.’ The transformative actions suggested will utilize tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming biodiversity, reducing threats to biodiversity and ensuring sustainable use of biodiversity. The appropriate recognition of gender, equality, empowerment of women, youth, gender-sensitive approaches, and full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in the implementation of the framework are emphasized. The draft recognizes the 2020 mission as well as the 2050 vision ‘to take urgent action across society to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources, to put biodiversity on the path to recovery by 2030 for the benefit of the planet and people.’ It recognizes four long-term goals and the milestones to assess them for 2050, as related to the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity. The framework will be presented during the second part of COP-15. (5) Sharm El-Sheikh to Kunming Action Agenda for Nature and People The Sharm El-Sheikh to Kunming Action Agenda for Nature and People is a voluntary commitment platform to raise awareness on urgent action to reverse biodiversity loss. This non-governmental organization Action Forum was held on 27−8 September. It called for participation from all segments of society. There are more than 290 commitments in eleven action areas. This agenda is critical to the GBF in several ways. There are several criteria that non-state actors need to comply with for the submission of commitments. The criteria are as follows: commitments are voluntary and should be biodiversity relevant, scientifically sound, contribute to the long-term sustainable development, and should include tangible and measurable actions; commitments need to be built on existing cross-sectoral initiatives; and they need to support biodiversity considerations addressed at COP-13 and COP-14, engagement of small and medium companies, and reporting of the result as per baselines and metrics. (6) Ecological Civilization Forum The Ecological Civilization Forum is one of the parallel events conducted at COP-15. The three objectives of the forum are: (i) to share experiences and achievements in global biodiversity conservation, improving people’s livelihood and well-being and enabling green development; (ii) to gather consensus on ecological civilization; and (iii) to promote exchanges and cooperation in global biodiversity conservation and ecological civilization related fields. Seven different sub-forums were identified in relation to these objectives. The sub-forums are on a carbon-neutral future, mainstreaming ecological civilization, water and mountains as invaluable assets, nature-based solutions for conservation and restoration, natural capital accounting and ecological product value realization, and financial sector support for biodiversity. Based on the discussions, more than ten outcomes were delivered. (7) Cartagena Protocol The tenth Meeting of the Parties of the Cartagena Protocol (COP-MOP 10, Part I) started concurrently to the COP meeting on 11 October. The first part of this meeting addressed the organizational matters, reporting aspects of various bodies, and adoption of the meeting report. The reports of the twenty-third meeting of the SBSTTA, the twenty-fourth meeting of the SBI, and the Open-ended Working Group on the GBF were noted and their recommendations are to be considered at the second part of the meeting in 2022. The report of the Compliance Committee was introduced. The committee considered the issues of including the submission of national reports, compliance action plans, and Biosafety Clearing House submission information. A budget contact group was established to prepare the draft budget of the program of work for 2022. (8) Nagoya Protocol The COP-4 of the Nagoya Protocol was conducted in two parts. The first part was held online on 11−15 October. The reports of the inter-sessional meeting of the subsidiary bodies were noted, and the attendees decided to consider the recommendations of the reports at the second part of the meeting in 2022. The draft decision on the interim budget for the integrated program of the work was adopted. The resumed sessions of the twenty-fourth meeting of the SBSTTA and the third meeting of the SBI and the meeting of the open-ended working group on the GBF will carry forward the work preparation for the reporting at the second part of COP-15 later in 2022 (dates are yet to be announced in view of the COVID-19 surge). © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights) © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com TI - 1. Nature Conservation: Natural Lands and Biological Diversity JF - Yearbook of International Environmental Law DO - 10.1093/yiel/yvac015 DA - 2022-09-30 UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/1-nature-conservation-natural-lands-and-biological-diversity-VO9tkQoYko SP - 89 EP - 92 VL - 32 IS - 1 DP - DeepDyve ER -