The Conference of the Parties,
Recalling its decision IX/9, in which it requested the Working Group on Review of Implementation, at its third meeting, to prepare, for consideration and adoption by the Conference of the Parties at its tenth meeting, a revised and updated Strategic Plan including a revised biodiversity target,
Welcoming the submissions by Parties and observers providing views on the updating and revision of the Strategic Plan and the various consultations that have been convened by Parties, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Countdown 2010, and other partners, including regional consultations, the Informal Expert Workshop on the Updating of the Strategic Plan of the Convention for the Post-2010 Period held in London from 18 to 20 January 2010 and the sixth United Nations/Norway Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity, held in Trondheim, Norway, from 1 to 5 February 2010, Expressing its gratitude to the Governments of Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Norway, Panama, Peru, Sweden, and the United Kingdom for hosting these consultations, as well as for their financial contributions,
Welcoming also the participation of various bodies of the United Nations system, convened through the Environmental Management Group, and of the scientific community, convened through DIVERSITAS, the Inter-Academy Panel of the National Academies of Science and other channels, Recognizing that the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 represents a useful flexible framework that is relevant to all biodiversity-related conventions, Noting with concern the conclusions of the third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook, which confirm that the 2010 biodiversity target has not been met in full, and also noting that the Outlook assesses the obstacles that have prevented the target from being met, analyses future scenarios for biodiversity and reviews possible actions that might be taken to reduce future loss,
Welcoming also the reports of the study on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity,
1. Adopts the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, with its Aichi Targets, annexed to the present decision;
2. Takes note of the provisional technical rationale, possible indicators and suggested milestones for the Aichi Biodiversity Targets contained in the note by the Executive Secretary (UNEP/CBD/COP/10/9)1 3. Urges Parties and other Governments, with the support of intergovernmental and other organizations, as appropriate, to implement the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and in particular to:
(a) Enable participation at all levels to foster the full and effective contributions of women, indigenous and local communities, civil-society organizations, the private sector and stakeholders from all other sectors in the full implementation of the objectives of the Convention and the Strategic Plan;
(b) Develop national and regional targets, using the Strategic Plan and its Aichi Targets, as a flexible framework, in accordance with national priorities and capacities and taking into account both the global targets and the status and trends of biological diversity in the country, and the resources provided through the strategy for resource mobilization, with a view to contributing to collective global efforts to reach the global targets, and report thereon to the Conference of the Parties at its eleventh meeting;
(c) Review, and as appropriate update and revise, their national biodiversity strategies and action plans, in line with the Strategic Plan and the guidance adopted in decision IX/9, including by integrating their national targets into their national biodiversity strategies and action plans, adopted as a policy instrument, and report thereon to the Conference of the Parties at its eleventh or twelfth meeting;
(d) Use the revised and updated national biodiversity strategies and action plans as effective instruments for the integration of biodiversity targets into national development and poverty reduction policies and strategies, national accounting, as appropriate, economic sectors and spatial planning processes, by Government and the private sector at all levels;
(e) Monitor and review the implementation of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans in accordance with the Strategic Plan and their national targets making use of the set of indicators developed for the Strategic Plan as a flexible framework and to report to the Conference of the Parties through their fifth and sixth national reports and any other means to be decided by the Conference of the Parties;
(f) Support the updating of national biodiversity strategies and action plans as effective instruments to promote the implementation of the Strategic Plan and mainstreaming of biodiversity at the national level, taking into account synergies among the biodiversity-related conventions in a manner consistent with their respective mandates;
(g) Promote the generation and use of scientific information, develop methodologies and initiatives to monitor status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services, share data, develop indicators and measures, and undertake regular and timely assessments, to underpin the proposed new intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES) and an effective Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice in order to strengthen the science policy interface, thereby enhancing the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020;
Annex
STRATEGIC PLAN FOR BIODIVERSITY 2011-2020 AND THE AICHI BIODIVERSITY TARGETS
“Living in harmony with nature”
1. The purpose of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 is to promote effective implementation of the Convention through a strategic approach, comprising a shared vision, a mission, andstrategic goals and targets (“the Aichi Biodiversity Targets”), that will inspire broad-based action by all Parties and stakeholders. The Strategic Plan will also provide a flexible framework for the establishment of national and regional targets and for enhancing coherence in the implementation of the provisions of the Convention and the decisions of the Conference of the Parties, including the programmes of work and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation as well as the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising from their Utilization. It will also serve as the basis for the development of communication tools capable of attracting the attention of and engaging stakeholders, thereby facilitating the mainstreaming of biodiversity into broader national and global agendas. A separate Strategic Plan has been adopted for the Biosafety Protocol that will complement the present one for the Convention.
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II. VISION
11. The vision of this Strategic Plan is a world of “Living in harmony with nature” where “By 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people.”
III. THE MISSION OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN
12. The mission of the Strategic Plan is to “take effective and urgent action to halt the loss of biodiversity in order to ensure that by 2020 ecosystems are resilient and continue to provide essential services, thereby securing the planet’s variety of life, and contributing to human well-being, and poverty eradication. To ensure this, pressures on biodiversity are reduced, ecosystems are restored, biological resources are sustainably used and benefits arising out of utilization of genetic resources are shared in a fair and equitable manner; adequate financial resources are provided, capacities are enhanced, biodiversity issues and values mainstreamed, appropriate policies are effectively implemented, and decision-making is based on sound science and the precautionary approach.”
IV. STRATEGIC GOALS AND THE AICHI BIODIVERSITY TARGETS
13. The Strategic Plan includes 20 headline targets for 2015 or 2020 (the “Aichi Biodiversity Targets”), organized under five strategic goals. The goals and targets comprise both:
(i) aspirations for achievement at the global level; and
(ii) a flexible framework for the establishment of national or regional targets. Parties are invited to set their own targets within this flexible framework, taking into account national needs and priorities, while also bearing in mind national contributions to the achievement of the global targets. Not all countries necessarily need to develop a national target for each and every global target. For some countries, the global threshold set through certain targets may already have been achieved. Others targets may not be relevant in the country context.
Strategic goal A. Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society
Target 1: By 2020, at the latest, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably.
Target 2: By 2020, at the latest, biodiversity values have been integrated into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies and planning processes and are being incorporated into national accounting, as appropriate, and reporting systems.
Target 3: By 2020, at the latest, incentives, including subsidies, harmful to biodiversity are eliminated, phased out or reformed in order to minimize or avoid negative impacts, and positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are developed and applied, consistent and in harmony with the Convention and other relevant international obligations, taking into account national socio-economic conditions.
Target 4: By 2020, at the latest, Governments, business and stakeholders at all levels have taken steps to achieve or have implemented plans for sustainable production and consumption and have kept the impacts of use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits.
Strategic goal B. Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use
Target 5: By 2020, the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, is at least halved and where feasible brought close to zero, and degradation and fragmentation is significantly reduced.
Target 6: By 2020 all fish and invertebrate stocks and aquatic plants are managed and harvested sustainably, legally and applying ecosystem based approaches, so that overfishing is avoided, recovery plans and measures are in place for all depleted species, fisheries have no significant adverse impacts on threatened species and vulnerable ecosystems and the impacts of fisheries on stocks, species and ecosystems are within safe ecological limits.
Target 7: By 2020 areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry are managed sustainably, ensuring conservation of biodiversity.
Target 8: By 2020, pollution, including from excess nutrients, has been brought to levels that are not detrimental to ecosystem function and biodiversity.
Target 9: By 2020, invasive alien species and pathways are identified and prioritized, priority species are controlled or eradicated, and measures are in place to manage pathways to prevent their introduction and establishment.
Target 10: By 2015, the multiple anthropogenic pressures on coral reefs, and other vulnerable ecosystems impacted by climate change or ocean acidification are minimized, so as to maintain their integrity and functioning.
Strategic goal C: Improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity
Target 11: By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.
Target 12: By 2020 the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has been improved and sustained.
Target 13: By 2020, the genetic diversity of cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and of wild relatives, including other socio-economically as well as culturally valuable species, is maintained, and strategies have been developed and implemented for minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity.
Strategic goal D: Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services
Target 14: By 2020, ecosystems that provide essential services, including services related to water, and contribute to health, livelihoods and well-being, are restored and safeguarded, taking into account the needs of women, indigenous and local communities, and the poor and vulnerable.
Target 15: By 2020, ecosystem resilience and the contribution of biodiversity to carbon stocks has been enhanced, through conservation and restoration, including restoration of at least 15 per cent of degraded ecosystems, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation and to combating desertification.
Target 16: By 2015, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization is in force and operational, consistent with national legislation.
Strategic goal E. Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building
Target 17: By 2015 each Party has developed, adopted as a policy instrument, and has commenced implementing an effective, participatory and updated national biodiversity strategy and action plan.
Target 18: By 2020, the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and their customary use of biological resources, are respected, subject to national legislation and relevant international obligations, and fully integrated and reflected in the implementation of the Convention with the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities, at all relevant levels.
Target 19: By 2020, knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to biodiversity, its values, functioning, status and trends, and the consequences of its loss, are improved, widely shared and transferred, and applied.
Target 20: By 2020, at the latest, the mobilization of financial resources for effectively implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 from all sources, and in accordance with the consolidated and agreed process in the Strategy for Resource Mobilization, should increase substantially from the current levels. This target will be subject to changes contingent to resource needs assessments to be developed and reported by Parties.
V. IMPLEMENTATION, MONITORING, REVIEW AND EVALUATION
14. Means for implementation: The Strategic Plan will be implemented primarily through activities at the national or subnational level, with supporting action at the regional and global levels. The means of implementation for this Strategic Plan will include provision of financial resources in accordance with respective obligations under the Convention, taking into account Article 20 of the Convention. The Strategic Plan provides a flexible framework for the establishment of national and regional targets. National biodiversity strategies and action plans are key instruments for translating the Strategic Plan to national circumstances, including through the national targets, and for integrating biodiversity across all sectors of government and society. The participation of all relevant stakeholders should be promoted and facilitated at all levels of implementation. Initiatives and activities of indigenous and local communities, contributing to the implementation of the Strategic Plan at the local level, should be supported and encouraged. The means for implementation may vary from country to country, according to national needs and circumstances. Nonetheless, countries should learn from each other when determining appropriate means for implementation. It is in this spirit that examples of the possible means for implementation are provided in the note by the Executive Secretary on the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020: provisional technical rationale, possible indicators and suggested milestones for the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. It is envisaged that implementation will be further supported by the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising from their Utilization and other components of the international regime on access and benefit-sharing which will facilitate the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
15. The programmes of work: The thematic programmes of work of the Convention include: biodiversity of inland waters, marine and coastal biodiversity, agricultural biodiversity, forest biodiversity, biodiversity of dry and sub-humid lands, mountain biodiversity and island biodiversity. Together with the various cross-cutting issues10 they provide detailed guidance on implementation of the Strategic Plan, and could also contribute to development and poverty reduction. They are key tools to be considered in the updating of national biodiversity strategies and action plans.
16. Broadening political support for this Strategic Plan and the objectives of the Convention is necessary, for example, by working to ensure that Heads of State and Government and the parliamentarians of all Parties understand the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Parties to the Convention should be encouraged to establish national biodiversity targets that support the achievement of the Strategic Plan and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and outline the measures and activities that will achieve this, such as the development of comprehensive national accounting, as appropriate, that integrates the values of biodiversity and ecosystem services into government decision-making with the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities and other stakeholders.
17. Partnerships at all levels are required for effective implementation of the Strategic Plan, to leverage actions at the scale necessary, to garner the ownership necessary to ensure mainstreaming of biodiversity across sectors of government, society and the economy and to find synergies with national implementation of multilateral environmental agreements. Partnerships with the programmes, funds and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, as well as with other conventions and multilateral and bilateral agencies, foundations, women, indigenous and local communities, and non-governmental organizations, will be essential to support implementation of the Strategic Plan at the national level. At the international level, this requires partnerships between the Convention and other conventions, international organizations and processes, civil society and the private sector. In particular, efforts will be needed to:
(a) Ensure that the Convention, through its new Strategic Plan, contributes to sustainable development and the elimination of poverty, and the other Millennium Development Goals;
(b) Ensure cooperation to achieve implementation of the Plan in different sectors;
(c) Promote biodiversity-friendly practice by business; and (d) Promote synergy and coherence in the implementation of the multilateral environmental agreements.11 18. Reporting by Parties: Parties will inform the Conference of the Parties of the national targets or commitments and policy instruments they adopt to implement the Strategic Plan, as well as any milestones towards these targets, and report on progress towards these targets and milestones, including through their fifth and sixth national reports. Suggested milestones, as well as suggested indicators, are to be developed in accordance with the processes laid out in paragraphs 3 (b), (e) and 17 (g) of decision X/2 on the Strategic Plan as well as decision X/7 on goals, targets and associated indicators. Parliamentarians, by responding to the needs and expectations of citizens on a regular basis, should play a role in reviewing the implementation of the Convention at the national and subnational levels, as appropriate, to help Governments produce a more comprehensive review.
