As delegates prepare to gather in Armenia, find out how JNCC staff will be supporting this important meeting of parties.
From 19 to 30 October, delegates from across the world will be meeting in Armenia for the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17). With 'Taking Action for Nature' as its central theme, this meeting of signatories to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will conduct the first collective evaluation of progress made on the 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), agreed in Montreal nearly four years ago.
The KMGBF is a global plan to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, and includes 23 ambitious global targets to improve and enhance biodiversity, including to:
- Effectively conserve at least 30% of land and 30% of ocean.
- Reduce pollution from all sources to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity.
- Enhance biodiversity and sustainability in agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry.
- Ensure sustainable, safe and legal harvesting and trade of wild species
COP17 is shaping up as an "implementation COP", with negotiations focused on how to accelerate delivery of the KMGBF rather than negotiating major new targets. The central political challenge remains how to close the acknowledged implementation gap, particularly through finance, capacity-building and support for developing countries.
The UK's submission to this global stocktake was its seventh national report, which shows that the UK is on track to achieve three of the 23 targets by 2030.
JNCC's scientists, including our CEO and Chair, will be attending the meeting in Armenia as part of the UK delegation along with colleagues from Defra and other government departments. For over 30 years, JNCC has played a key role in the UK's work under the Convention on Biological Diversity, including coordinating a joint response to the KMGBF from all four countries of the UK.
As well as supporting Defra, JNCC will be leading on certain topics in Armenia. On behalf of the UK, JNCC’s International Advice Team Co-Leader Alyssa Fischer is leading on Mainstreaming of biodiversity within and across sectors and Engagement with subnational governments, cities and other local authorities to enhance the implementation of the KMGB. Senior International Biodiversity Adviser, Lucy Ellam will be leading on Biodiversity and agriculture and Invasive alien species. Senior International Biodiversity Adviser, Leah Farquharson will be leading on Biodiversity & health.
We'll be providing more information about our work at COP17 in the coming days and weeks, so come back again soon to keep up-to-date.
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