IIED at CBD COP15

IIED is focusing on locally-led action at the 15th Convention on Biological Diversity conference in Montreal, Canada (COP15).

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UN biodiversity conference (COP15)
A series of pages related to IIED's activities around the 15th Convention on Biological Diversity conference (COP15)
Various women holding sickles and working the land

Farmers in Debre Zeyit, Ethiopia (Photo: Nora Castaneda-Alvarez/Crop Trust via Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0)

In Montreal, Canada from 5-17 December 2022, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will meet to finalise and endorse an ambitious Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework at part two of the delayed 15th Conference of Parties (COP15).

The global biodiversity framework has been under negotiation for more than two years – it is urgent that a new agreement is reached to chart a new 10-year pathway to reverse the loss of nature. 

Locally led action by Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) must be central to delivering the framework and transforming our relationship with nature. IIED is working closely with partners to ensure the rights, needs, interests, cultural values and knowledge of IPLCs are at the heart of the framework, both during drafting and negotiation this year and in implementation from 2023.

Locally led action by IPLCs on land and in marine areas is essential to its success, including key components like the 30x30 target that seeks to conserve 30% of the world’s land and marine areas by 2030 – this will not be possible without IPLCs and a strong focus on equity. 

Locally led action must be enabled through equitable governance and an increase and better access to finance.

IIED calls on governments, the private sector and all sectors to step up in their commitment to locally led action to help deliver better outcomes for people, nature and climate through the new framework and over the coming decade and beyond.

IIED and COP15 – putting locally led action at the heart of the framework

IIED has been building up to CBD COP15 with our partners as part of the 2021 and 2022 'super years'  (also see our super year blog series) and hosted various events as part of London Climate Action Weeks, New York Climate Action Week, the IUCN World Conservation Congress, COP26, Development & Climate Days 2021, the institute's IIED Debates series and more. 

We have published a series of reports and briefings to provide insights on key issues linked to COP15 and the framework. IIED staff and guest experts have also been publishing a series of blogs showcasing the role of locally-led solutions in halting and reversing our current catastrophic loss of biodiversity.

IIED and partners participated in the virtual negotiations in 2021 and in the in-person meetings and negotiations throughout 2022, and IIED will be in Montreal for COP15 – see all our side events and activities at COP15.

COP15 resources from IIED and partners

IIED has been working with partners to ensure the global biodiversity framework is not just good for nature, but good for people too.

We continue to argue that people and locally-led conservation efforts need to be at the centre of the transformation required to stop biodiversity loss and put nature on the path to recovery.

In early 2021, we produced three guides for negotiators to embed equity in the GBF, and strengthen its development dimensions and foundational elements: 

Other publications have highlighted the importance of Indigenous knowledge in protecting biodiversity, and how negotiators   keen to drive a whole-of-society step-change in tackling the biodiversity crisis can take inspiration from the climate change agenda:

Last year also saw IIED researchers and guest experts write a series of blogs to raise awareness and action on the interlinkages between climate, nature and people.

Additional resources

Previous CBD COPs

IIED and partners have been active at previous CBD COPs, presenting research and highlighting sustainable solutions that protect biodiversity:

Contact

Ebony Holland (ebony.holland@iied.org), nature-climate policy lead in IIED's Natural Resources and Climate Change research groups