The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) capacity building programme for Multilateral Environmental Agreements in African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries (ACP-MEAs) held a series of regional preparatory sessions in August 2021 ahead of the third meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OWG 3) on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). A special session to seek youth voices was also held with youth participating from Asia, Africa, GRULAC and Europe.
Senior government officials from 57 countries in the five regions participated in the briefing sessions held from 11 to 19 August.
The sessions provided a unique opportunity for countries to come together at the regional and sub-regional levels. Key discussions and outcomes of the sessions included the need to:
- Review the ‘Theory of Change’ presented in the draft GBF;
- Improve the focus and clarity of several targets, especially on the issue of approaches;
- Clarify means of implementation that correspond with the ambition of the GBF and its targets;
- Improve understanding of financing, digital sequence information, synthetic biology, capacity building, technology transfer, and knowledge management issue;
- Enhance focus on regional and national priorities in terms of targets;
- Clarify availability and comprehensiveness of the indicators suggested;
- Support reporting and clarity on issues such as national commitments;
- Ensure the GBF truly supports the ‘transformational change’ needed to deal with the objectives of the Convention;
- Recognize the role of youth and the importance of intergenerational participation in providing solutions to the environmental crisis;
- Provide support at the national level to prepare for implementation through National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), national financing plans, national commitments and capacity building to realize the GBF.
On 12 July, the Co-chairs of the OWG released the first draft of the GBF that provides the over-arching goals and targets in achieving the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for the period 2021-2030. This draft will be discussed at the virtual session of the 3rd OWG from 23 August to 03 September, in preparation for the Conference of the Parties (COP-15).
For recordings of the briefing sessions see the links below:
Regional Preparatory and Briefing Sessions for South Asia
Regional Preparatory and Briefing Sessions for Africa
Regional Preparatory and Briefing Sessions for West Asia
Regional Preparatory and Briefing Sessions for Caribbean
About the UNEP ACP MEAs Programme
The ACP MEAs programme is a partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the European Union, the Organization of Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific States, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). It aims to build the capacity of 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific to fulfill their obligations to multilateral environmental agreements. In the last decade, the programme has helped states to fully engage in the implementation of environmental accords. It is now in its third phase.
For more information contact: Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati, Programme Manager, ACP MEAs 3 Programme, Law Division, UNEP. E-mail: Balakrishna.pisupati@un.org or Ladu Lemi at Ladu.lemi@un.org
