Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: Targets Must be Backed With Commitment To Ensure Planet Conservation and Human Preservation-Salako
Strategic planning, which seeks to halt and reverse biodiversity loss for the benefit of the planet and people, that the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) represents must go beyond mere paper targets but should be backed by commitment, effective deployment of resources and concrete actions. This was stated by the Nigerian Minister of State for Environment, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, at the Inception Workshop for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) Early Action Support Project on 16th, November, 2023 in Abuja.
Salako noted that Biodiversity underpins life on earth, from human health and well-being to food and water security to economies and livelihoods. Yet biodiversity is severely threatened and declining at unprecedented levels due to increasing pollution, resource exploitation, land use change, invasive species, and climate change, among other factors.
”The Inter-governmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) shone a light on this in its Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The findings from this report indicated that the world is facing an extinction crisis, with one million species of plant and animal threatened with extinction, many within decades. I am sure you will all agree with me that such a situation is unacceptable and that urgent action must be taken. Building on the ambition set forth in the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) seeks to halt and reverse biodiversity loss for the benefit of the planet and people”, he said.
HE said in line with the GBF, Nigeria has been driving an ambitious global agenda to address this crisis which was well demonstrated by the frontline role played by Nigeria at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, CoP15 held in Montreal, Canada.
”During the conference,, Nigeria joined hands with our ECOWAS colleagues to ensure that the priorities of the West Africa sub-region were encapsulated within the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. We fought hard for these achievements, and I know that many of you here today were part of the team that made it happen – for this I would like to sincerely congratulate you. I am particularly excited of Target 3, which sets a mandate to conserve and protect 30 percent of the world’s land, water, and ocean by 2030. This target must go beyond mere paper targets but must be backed by commitment, effective deployment of resources and concrete actions. The science is clear that we must prioritize biodiversity for the health of our planet, our food supply system, and our economies.
”It is only with this level of ambition and action that we will ensure that the planet is properly conserved and human existenceis preserved. Though the Global Biodiversity Framework is a fantastic global achievement, it is simply the first small step along the road towards ensuring that global biodiversity is protected. Now comes the hard part – implementation of the Framework”, he added.
He said National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) are the policy instruments for national implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). He added that Nigeria needed to accelerate action and to achieve the vision of living in harmony with nature by 2050, NBSAPs which must be rapidly aligned with the new goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
