Enhancing Synergies between the Rio Conventions at National and Global Levels to Deliver the Decade of Action

SIDE EVENT
Friday 3 June
13:00-14:15 CEST
Stockholmsmässan, Room 4

Organizers: Convention for Biological Diversity, UNFCCC, UNCCD, Global Environment Facility, Government of the United Kingdom

About: There is growing awareness of the urgency for strong actions to reverse climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation for a healthy planet and prosperity for all. The outcomes of the Glasgow Climate Conference, UNCCD COP-15 held in Abidjan and the ongoing negotiations of a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, each emphasize the inseparable connections between these three global challenges and the importance of joined-up action to successfully address them.

In this event, the heads of the CBD, UNCCD, UNFCCC and the GEF will discuss synergy and complementarity in the implementation of the Rio Conventions and the GEF at national and global levels and the contribution of this to the Decade of Action. The presidencies of the three Conventions will also discuss integration at national and global levels and present a common vision.

The event is part of the Rio Conventions Pavilion, a long-established joint communications platform of the Secretariats of the Rio Conventions and the GEF. In collaboration with the government of the United Kingdom, the event is also held to strengthen political will and build global momentum on the importance of integrated action between the UNFCCC, UNCCD and CBD.

Moderator(s): Pamela Chasek (IISD)

Panelists:

Panel 1: Synergies in implementation of the Rio Conventions and the Global Environment Facility

  • Ovais Sarmad (UNFCCC)
  • Elizabeth Mrema (CBD)
  • Ibrahim Thiaw (UNCCD)
  • Carlos Manuel Rodriguez (GEF)

Panel 2: Political Momentum in Synergies

  • Rt Hon Lord Goldsmith (Minister of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs UK)
  • H.E. Yasmine Fouad (Minister of Environment Egypt)
  • Alain-Richard Donwahi (UNCCD COP 15)

Contact person: David Ainsworth (david.ainsworth_at_un.org)

Event outcomes (Key transformative actions):

  • The National Focal Points of the Rio Conventions and Operational Focal Points of the GEF to be liaising effectively to enable integrated and complementary action at national level by 2025.
  • All sectors, particularly business, must fully integrate Nature in their operations to enable the achievement of the 2030 targets related to biodiversity, climate and land degradation neutrality by the end of the decade.
  • In the same rapid manner that finance was mobilized to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the world needs to rapidly mobilize the levels of finance needed to avoid the existential impacts on people from climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation in order to deliver the 2030 targets by the end of the decade.

 


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