Towards Aichi/Nagoya: Second Curitiba Declaration on Local Authorities and Biodiversity

At the second Curitiba Meeting on Cities and Biodiversity, 95 delegates representing local, regional and national governments, NGOs including ICLEI, and local organisations, met in Curitiba, Brazil. One of the central outcomes of this important meeting, which was tied to a celebration of the beginning of the International Year of Biodiversity, was the finalisation of a Declaration by local governments, re-emphasising their commitment to being key role-players in global biodiversity conservation and calling on others - particularly national governments - to support them in this role. The Declaration, entitled "Towards Aichi/Nagoya: Second Curitiba Declaration on Local Authorities and Biodiversity", makes special reference to and expresses support for the proposed CBD "Plan of Action on Cities, Local Authorities and Biodiversity", a draft plan detailing how the Parties (national governments) to the CBD can support local authorities in implementing the objectives of the CBD. The Declaration also recalls and acknowledges previous declarations and commitments including the Durban Commitment, signed in 2008 by mayors and other high-level political representatives of local authorities taking part in ICLEI's Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) Programme. Both the Curitiba event and the Declaration are important landmarks in ICLEI's Local Government Biodiversity Roadmap - a process of awareness-raising and rallying of support for local authorities' role at, and beyond, the Tenth Conference of the Parties of the CBD (COP10) and City Summit parallel event.

Download the Declaration here