Nations Endorsed the Plan of Action on Cities

26 October 2010

Working Group Two of the tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD COP) has endorsed the Plan of Action on Sub-national Governments, Cities and other Local Authorities and Biodiversity, this afternoon.

Please see the CBD website for the full text of the Plan.

ICLEI President, David Cadman, said: “This is a tremendous step in the history of the United Nations in recognizing the need for national governments to support and work closely with cities and local governments across the world in implementing the objectives of the CBD.

“We congratulate the Parties that presented this plan to the CBD COP10 and to all of those who worked so hard in these days to reach consensus.”

The decision from Working Group Two happened at exactly the same time as the City Biodiversity Summit, with more than 500 delegates from 230 local authorities and international organizations who gathered in Nagoya to encourage Parties to adopt the Plan, came to a conclusion.

On behalf of ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, Andre Mader, technical head of ICLEI's Global Biodiversity Programme, Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB), made the following intervention statement during Working Group 2 which went on to endorse the Plan of Action on Sub-national Governments, Cities and other Local Authorities and Biodiversity (2011-2020).

On behalf of our 1200 member cities and local authorities worldwide, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability would like to congratulate the Parties who had the vision to bring the Plan of Action on Sub-national Governments, Cities and Other Local Authorities to the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD.

Plans and policy translate into action at the local level. But this can only happen as swiftly and effectively as it needs to happen in this age of urbanization, if the nations of the world work with their respective local authorities, enabling them to fulfil their potential to contribute to the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements such as the CBD.

Endorsing the Plan of Action in its current form here at the COP10 will send a powerful message to the world that the Parties to the CBD include local authorities as important partners to these objectives.