U.N. summit sends S.O.S.

on biodiversity
The U.N.'s biodiversity summit in Nagoya, Japan will set global targets for governments worldwide
to protect ecosystems.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity starts Monday in Japan to set targets for 2020Many
rainforests and coral reefs already at a tipping point, says the controllingpollution.com U.N.New
Strategic Plan to be agreed along with new protocols to sustain ecosystemsNot one government met
2010 targets which were set back in 2002
(CNN) -- Delegates from all over the world descended on Nagoya in Japan on Monday for talks
considered crucial to sustaining the future of animal, plant and human life on Earth.
For two weeks, delegates at the 10th meeting (COP10) of the Convention on Biological Diversity will
attempt to agree a 20-point plan for the next decade following the comprehensive failure of any
government to meet previous targets set out in 2002.
"Nagoya is the main global event to communicate the value of nature and the costs of its loss to the
whole world," Pavan Sukhdev, special advisor and head of UNEP's Green Economy Initiative told
CNN.
What is the Convention on Biological Diversity?
The U.N.'s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a legally-binding treaty consisting of 193
members or "Parties" (192 governments plus the European Union).
It was set up at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and came into force in December 1993.
Its stated aims are to conserve and sustain biodiversity, while trying to promote a "fair and
equitable" sharing of benefits made from plant and animal life.
Number of people in developing countries who rely on fish as a major source of food: One billion
Percentage of the world's fisheries that are fully or overexploited: 80 percent
Source: United Nations
Number of people who depend on drugs derived from forest plants: One billion
Percentage of medicinal plants used today under threat of extinction: Eight percent
Source: UNEP
Why is the summit so important?
Ecologists and politicians agree that the planet's ecosystems are in crisis. The U.N.'s third Global
Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3) -- published in May 2010 -- painted a depressingly bleak picture of

biodiversity loss in recent times.

"Alarming" declines in natural habitats (freshwater wetlands, sea ice, salt marshes, coral reefs),
vertebrate species (down by a third in the past 35 years) and genetic diversity were recorded.
The targets set out in 2002 to achieve "a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss
at the global, regional and national level..." by 2010 were not met by any government, the report
said.
The losses were, concluded GBO-3, of "profound concern" which has "major implications for current
and future well-being."
U.N. report: Eco-systems at 'tipping point'
More recently, WWF's biennial Living Planet report published in October said "our demand on
natural resources has doubled since 1966, and globally, we are using the equivalent of 1.5 planets to
support our activities."
Read the WWF report
What's being discussed in Nagoya?
The primary goal is to agree a new 20-point Strategic Plan for the next decade (2011- 2020) setting
new targets for conservation and sustainable uses of biodiversity, as well as fleshing out a long-term
vision up to 2050.
In addition, delegates will try to finalize a protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) -- the
equitable sharing of benefits from the world's genetic resources.
Jim Leape, director general of WWF said a protocol on ABS which "recognizes the interests of the
biodiversity-rich countries and ensures the rights of indigenous peoples...is long overdue."
The results of "The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity" (TEEB) study will also be presented
in Nagoya. Governments will be urged to endorse and implement TEEB's recommendations.
The three-year study has investigated ways of placing economic values on some of the services
nature provides (e.g. natural flood defenses, like mangroves and crop pollination).
Mangroves disappearing faster than land-based forests
At the convention, the United Nations also plans to launch a new independent international body
charged with monitoring biodiversity.
The Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) will
provide periodic assessments of ecosystems and will operate in a similar way to the U.N.'s
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It is also hoped IPBES will also provide training for
environmental scientists in the developing world.
What are the chances of success?
The scientific evidence detailing the decline in biodiversity is seemingly unambiguous. So it would

be reasonable to expect that -- in this, the U.N.'s International Year of Biodiversity -- world leaders
will want emerge from the summit with some concrete plans and avoid a rerun of the widely
perceived failure of last year's climate change talks in Copenhagen.
Biodiversity is still too remote from people's self-interest
--Ros Aveling, Flora and Fauna International

What do conservation groups think?

Claus Mayr, director of European Affairs at the Nature and Biodiversity Union (the German branch
of Birdlife International) told CNN: "The most urgent need is the adoption of the Strategic Plan and
the second is a binding protocol on ABS. Thirdly, rich countries like ones in Europe need to speak
with one voice and put money on the table."
Read Birdlife International's five key messages
Ros Aveling, deputy chief executive of Flora and Fauna International, urged leaders to get behind
Birdlife International's message.
"The major thing that needs to happen is that the resources, the political will and the understanding
of the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services have to become more widespread," Aveling told
CNN.
"If you think what we put into as a global community into education, we do that because we value it.
If we could put anything like that into biodiversity we might have a chance."
Politicians and conservationists need "to illustrate the dependency we have on biodiversity," Aveling
says.
"Political will is very heavily dependent on the popular will. Biodiversity is still too remote from
people's self-interest. The importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services is just not getting out
there," she said.
U.N. statistics on biodiversity
Are the proposed targets ambitious enough?
Conservation International is urging leaders to commit to greater protection saying a quarter of the

world's land should be protected to avert an environmental crisis.

This is at least five percent more than the target the CBD is hoping to agree at Nagoya. And there
are other scientists who think that the summit's ambitions could be broadened.
Experts assembled by the Paris-based research group DIVERSITAS believe that the CBD's strategic
plan could be "strengthened."
While DIVERSITAS acknowledges that CBD's incorporation of targets and indicators is "a very
positive step," it suggests the plan could be enhanced by a color-coded system to identify priorities.
"Red" targets would address biodiversity change directly harmful to people, says DIVERSITAS, while
"green" would conserve biodiversity valued by society for non-utilitarian purposes.
Understanding and governance of biodiversity and ecosystems would be classified as "blue" targets
under the proposal.
A recent report by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) also argued for more
far-reaching reform.
Simply expanding the protection of valuable natural assets might not be enough, says PBL, when set
against population growth and greater access to prosperity.
The report calls for "structural changes in production and consumption" in the agriculture, fishing,
forestry and energy sectors.