Before the 2nd Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) meeting of CBD, Greenovation Hub together with Qingdao Marine Conservation Society send feedback on the Zero Draft of the Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to the CBD Secretariat, call for a more ambitious ocean conservation target. For full text of our feedback (EN/CN) please see below article. Besides, observation (CN) of the 2nd OEWG is enclosed here.
To the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity,
First of all, we thank the Secretariat for its work in proposing the Zero Draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, which will help facilitate effective consultations at the second working group meeting. We have carefully studied this Zero Draft and have provided the following feedback on the following aspects of the text:
1. We note that the division of goals into long-term goals and action targets in the framework is an effective way to advance specific discussions. In previous discussions on area percentage targets, we noted that action targets are a powerful tool to support policy implementation, but action targets can only urge policy outputs (e.g., protect X% of area) and do not guarantee the achievement of the purpose of biodiversity conservation. There is also a need for quantifiable targets for evaluating the effectiveness of policies to help monitor the progress of long-term actions. Therefore, we consider it very useful to distinguish between action targets and long-term goals.
2. From the characteristics of the oceans, the connectivity of the ocean determines that its protection requires cooperation at the regional or global level. We note that the current text refers to exchanges and cooperation with other international organizations and multilateral environmental agreements in terms of theory of change, enabling conditions, responsibility and transparency, and outreach, awareness and update. We believe this is also very beneficial. We also hope that the content of “ocean” and the responsibilities and obligations of countries within and beyond the jurisdictions can be clearly defined in the text. It also urges member states to cooperate in the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, assess the impact of fisheries, shipping and other marine activities on marine ecosystems, and take active measures to minimize the impact.
3. We believe that this Zero Draft still lacks emphasis on the urgency of action in the background. We recommend adding a description of the risks of climate change to the text to highlight the urgency of rapid transformation.
For specific content in the text, we make recommendations as follows:
Finally, we look forward to drawing more stakeholders’ opinions and suggestions at the second working meeting of the OEWG to further improve the draft.
If you have any questions about the feedback, please contact:
Chen Jiliang jiliang@ghug.org
Zhou Yujing yujing@ghub.org
Support Agencies:
Greenovation Hub， Qingdao Marine Conservation Society
February 21, 2020
