Outcomes Statement from CBD COP14: Biodiversity Law and Governance Day 2018
Delivered at the 14th Conference of the Parties to the CBD
15:00 Plenary Sunday, 25 November 2018
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt
Thank you, and hello. I am Professor Dr Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Chair of the CoP14 Biodiversity Law & Governance Day, Professor of Law at uWaterloo in Canada, Senior Director of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) and Dean of the new International Law School for Sustainable Development (ILSSD) Commission in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
On behalf of the BLGI, I would like to thank our kind Chair, our generous Egyptian Hosts, distinguished Delegates, Observers and partners for this opportunity.
On the 23rd of November at COP14, Parties and Observers to the CBD and other biodiversity accords convened nearly 100 law deans, general counsels, arbitrators, experts, policy-makers, practitioners, stakeholders and students from law, governance and other fields, in order to scale up efforts to address the main drivers of biodiversity loss, implement the Strategic Plan 2020 and the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through legal and institutional measures.
The 2018 Biodiversity Law & Governance Day was the second biennial event of its kind, building on the success of CoP13’s BLGD in Cancun. It was a rich and substantive exchange, focused on dialogue, engagement and action.
Together, we are building a global biodiversity law and governance Community of Practice to support the implementation of the CBD regime and the global SDGs.
Law and governance can be a powerful tool for our world’s biodiversity.
If carefully crafted and faithfully enforced, legal and institutional reforms can take down barriers to achieving the objectives of the Convention.
CoP14’s Biodiversity Law & Governance Day 2018 identified innovations, shared experiences and charted a way forward in four main areas:
- Mainstreaming biodiversity across sectors through law: Law and governance mechanisms can help mainstream biodiversity into energy and mining, infrastructure, manufacturing and health sectors. Public participation, access to information and justice, environmental assessments, including strategic assessment, were identified as useful measures.
- Legal tools to achieve Strategic Plan 2020 and beyond: COP 15 in 2020 is expected to consider for adoption the post-2020 global biodiversity framework in the context of the 2050 Vision, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other processes. Law and governance tools, including rights-based approaches and indigenous treaties, are helping to implement the current Strategic Plan- they offer valuable innovations. Law and governance can make an essential contribution to the post-2020 framework.
- Legal measures to implement the Nagoya Protocol: The Nagoya Protocol has been in force for nearly four years, and Parties will undertake the first review of its effectiveness at COP-MOP 3. Many lessons can be learned from national and regional implementation efforts. Law can provide a framework for emerging technologies and contribute to the Protocol’s objectives.
- Enhancing synergies between biodiversity treaties and instruments: Many international treaties and organizations are important for biodiversity and ecosystems. Law and governance mechanisms can be used to improve coordination and cohesion, delivering their commitments on the ground.
Through BLGD 2016 and 2018, we seek to:
- Profile and share innovative legal & institutional challenges, mechanisms and best practices;
- Catalyse knowledge exchange to co-generate new approaches & understanding; and
- Support law & policy education and capacity development for implementing the CBD regime, our Strategic Plan and the SDGs.
All Parties and Observers are very welcome to join this Initiative, as sponsors, partners, thematic leaders or participants.
Senior representatives and experts from CBD Parties have formed a Programme Committee to guide the growing Initiative. We would especially welcome all interested governments and stakeholders to contact us, in order to help shape the next BLGD at COP15 in 2020, and ideally, to serve distinguished judges for the global biodiversity law & policy student essay competition and moot in 2020.
In conclusion, we are very grateful to the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) and the CBD Secretariat (SCBD), together with the UNDP, Swedbio / Stockholm Resilience Centre, the Governments of Sweden and Norway, the Al-Khataibeh Centre for Arbitration in Jordan, the University of Sao Paolo in Brasil, University of Waterloo in Canada, University of Costa Rica, University of Nairobi in Kenya, University of Chile and University of Cambridge in the UK, along over 60 other brilliant partners, for a very successful Biodiv Law & Governance Day this COP and for our collaborations to come.
The “Formal Statement” submitted to COP14 can be downloaded here Biodiversity Law Governance Day 2018 – Statement v1