Achieving the CBD’s post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework Targets: Synergies between Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation
African CSOs Biodiversity Alliance
(ACBA) in collaboration with China’s Civil Society Alliance for Biodiversity
Conservation (CSABC) hosted a webinar titled Achieving the CBD’s P-2020 Global
Biodiversity Framework Targets: Synergies between Climate Change and
Biodiversity on the 14th of April 2022. This webinar aimed to share lessons
learned and best practices on Synergies between Climate Change and Biodiversity
Conservation and explore practical measures to bridge the biodiversity funding
gap and explore potential funding mechanisms in Africa and China.
The main outcomes from the webinar
were to Increase common understanding of the importance of synergy between
climate change and biodiversity conservation, to learn from successful projects
which promote synergy between climate change and biodiversity conservation in
China and Africa and to discuss the status of funding for supporting global
biodiversity conservation, as well as the funding gaps identified in China and
Africa. The webinar also aimed at coming up with and promote funding mechanisms
that could effectively mobilize resources in addressing funding gaps in Africa
and China in conservation and can provide an important reference for the CBD
COP15 and the formulation of the Post-2020 GBF. The recording the webinar can
be found on our YouTube at: https://youtu.be/nRegOgTG0P0
This webinar attracted over 100
participants and was moderated by Prof. Dr. LU Zhi the founder of Shan Shui
Conservation Centre and Conservation Biology Professor at China's Peking
University. The webinar had a diverse panel which comprises of Pauline Nantongo
Kalunda, Executive Director of ECOTRUST Uganda and lead policy task team at
ACBA, Dr Kanyinke Sena, the director Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating
Committee, Prof. Dr. Xiang Gao, the professor and director National Center for
Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, China, Dr Hui Lin, the
associate research fellow at the Institute of Science and Development, Chinese
Academy of Science.
Prof Dr. Zhi Lu opens up the webinar
by highlighting the importance of nature, how human livelihoods are fully
dependent on natural resources globally and the importance of climate
maintenance.
Prof. Dr. Xiang Gao gives a talk on
procedural rules to facilitate implementation on UNFCCC and CBD. He continues
to highlight the theory of change for the Post-2020 GBF and its importance.
“Countries need to take action to make sure we meet our GBF targets, lack of
monitoring towards the targets affects national reporting. The Paris agreement
is guided by its principles which includes the principles of equity and common
but differentiated by responsibilities and respective capabilities in the light
of different national circumstances. There is an understanding that there is a
need to raise ambitions on both Climate Change and the CBD”. He also mentioned that “In order for target
to be implemented or reached there must be necessary technologies and resources
to reach that specific target, ambitions need resources”. When concluding he
reported “we need actions in order to see progress, in that there must equally be
transparency in both the UNFCCC and CBD frameworks.”
Pauline Nantongo shares on the
experiences from the synergies between climate change and Biodiversity. She
says “these synergies cannot be separated from livelihoods in the African
context, the loss in biodiversity results in the ability of natural resources
dependency to be lost then the impacts of Climate change and Biodiversity can
be felt hard and fast”. The main challenge are the threats that come from the
interdependency on natural resources with no long-term thinking to the
solutions. “From the work that ECOTrust is doing as solutions, they do blended
financing which is transforming investments horizons. They create donor
financing to create systems for generating environmental services sales of PES
payments to trigger investments.” Mobilizing financing from the private sector
is done through offsetting which includes measuring emissions and offset
residual emissions, insetting includes companies engaging with value chain
actors to identify and invest in opportunities within the value chain and Off-taking
is mainly responsible sourcing for sustainable production.
Dr. Hui LIN an associate research
fellow talks about Climate change and Biodiversity Conservation which are
linked issues and human involvement. “Biodiversity and associated ecosystems
services are impacted by climate change. Climate change is a dominant driver to
biodiversity loss, and it is projected to further adversely affect key
development challenges”. Biodiversity is key as it helps people to adapt to and
to mitigate climate change through improvement of ecological environment for
biodiversity conservation, maintain and enhance the carbon sink functions. She
mentioned that consideration of the interactions between biodiversity, climate
and society in policy decisions provides opportunities to maximize the
co-benefits and minimize trade-offs and co-detrimental effects for people and
Nature.
Dr Kanyinke Sena the director of Indigenous People of Africa Coordinating Committee talks on the role of IPLCs in Shaping Climate solutions for Biodiversity. How do Climate Change and Biodiversity directly affect IPLCs. “Biodiversity loss disrupts nature services for IPLCs as they rely on for medication plants water and they are mainly hunter gatherers meaning they depend on nature for food security. Due to being under resourced such as no capital, and struggle to adapt to climate change, remotely located, high poverty rates also challenged by conflicts Indigenous People are the most vulnerable”. “Lessons to be learnt of IPLCs sustainable development is that they are rights holders not just Stakeholders, rights holders with survival needs, IPLCs cannot eat rights, they need monitory resources for their livelihood’s, free prior informed consent is key.” IPLCs needs capacity building on Climate change adaptation strategies and fundraising, financial resources to develop projects. A lot of efforts need to be made in these aspects.