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We are at a critical point in the history of our planet, where urgent action is needed to secure our collective future. Biodiversity is diminishing at unprecedented rates, and the global climate is changing faster than ever before. Cities are part of the problem, but are also the solution, as it is at the local and subnational level where actions to solve both crises can be deployed most effectively. It is also at the local and subnational level where the impacts of these crises are most felt, and where the cost of inaction will be the greatest.
The biodiversity and climate crises are both crises in their own rights, but are inextricably linked. They are two sides of the same coin, and neither crisis can be solved in isolation of the other. Instead, many of our climate adaptation and mitigation solutions lie in nature. What’s more, the climate crisis is contributing to the rapid loss of nature, and actions to adapt to and mitigate its effects will also yield positive outcomes for nature. It is in and around cities where the “rubber hits the road” as local and subnational governments are increasingly on the front lines of the battle for nature and climate. Local and subnational governments are uniting to take urgent collective action for global impact.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UN CBD) have increasingly recognized the critical role of local and subnational governments in achieving the global climate and biodiversity agendas.
Viewers will leave with a stronger understanding of the critical role of local and subnational governments in the global biodiversity and climate agendas. Information is shared on the Roadmap to the UN CBD COP 15 and opportunities for local and subnational governments to get involved in key advocacy moments. The links between the climate and biodiversity agendas are showcased, and viewers are inspired to raise ambition in achieving them both in the coming decade. Viewers also benefit from the insights of cities who will share best practice with regards to case studies that demonstrate how local and subnational governments can contribute to achieving both climate and biodiversity targets simultaneously.
Moderator:
- Ingrid Coetzee, Senior Programme Manager ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Center & Senior Manager Biodiversity & NBS, ICLEI Africa
Panelists:
- Oliver Hillel, Programme Officer, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), Montreal, Canada
- Kobie Brand, Regional Director ICLEI Africa and Global Director ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Center, Cape Town
- Yunus Arikan, Director of Global Advocacy, ICLEI; LGMA Focal Point to the UNFCCC, ICLEI
- Harriet Buckley, Professor of Geography and Coordinator of NATURVATION, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
- Susanne Nolden, Department of International Affairs and Global Sustainability, City of Bonn