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Nature provides multiple benefits that sustain our increasingly urban lives, including climate change mitigation and adaptation, yet it is diminishing at unprecedented rates. Now, more than ever before, urgent action is needed to halt the loss of nature and restore the ecosystems that we so critically depend on. This needs to be driven by local and subnational governments. Our cities are not only part of the problem, but also offer us the solutions we so urgently need. We stand at a critical moment in the history of our planet, where our actions today will determine our collective future.
This high-level political session, convened by ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Center, discusses the critical role of local and subnational governments in the implementation of the Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which will be adopted at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) of the CBD in Kunming, China in 2021. This role has been increasingly recognized by the CBD for over a decade, and was significantly strengthened by the adoption by CBD Parties of Decision X/22 in Nagoya, Japan in 2010, which endorsed a Plan of Action on Subnational Governments, Cities, and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity (2011-2020).
The session challenges cities to be daring enough to not only making ambitious commitments to achieving the global climate agenda, but also to achieving the global biodiversity agenda. The climate and biodiversity crises are two sides of the same coin, and local and subnational governments are critical to solving both. Neither can be solved in isolation of the other. Now is the time for collective action by Daring Cities to secure our increasingly urban future.
The following outcomes are attained:
- Present the outcomes of the Edinburgh Process for Subnational and Local Governments on the development of the Post 2020 GBF and call for Daring Cities to sign the Edinburgh Declaration
- Introduce the new members of the Advisory Committee on Cities and Biodiversity to a global audience
- Call and mobilize support for a renewed and more ambitious dedicated Decision on local and subnational governments to be adopted at CBD COP 15, to Daring Cities
- Demonstrate support for a dedicated Decision on local and subnational governments among key local and subnational network partners
- Announce the 7th Global Biodiversity Summit of Local and Subnational Governments in Kunming China in 2021
Session viewers, and more specifically local and subnational government delegates, will gain insights into how cities and regions can become “daring” with regards to their critical role in committing to ambitious and urgent action for nature. Viewers will leave the session with an understanding of the call for a dedicated decision for local and subnational governments. Furthermore, the session will provide the opportunity for viewers to be inspired by leaders who are daring to unite and drive transformative change. We encourage you to join us and take part in this ambitious call for urgent action to halt the loss of nature and secure better outcomes for both people and planet in support of a green recovery in the coming decade.