Mayors Urge Parties to Adopt the Plan of Action on Cities at the City Biodiversity Summit

Press release: 26 October 2010

Nagoya, Japan: The City Biodiversity Summit for local authorities, a parallel event to the tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention of Biological (CBD COP), was opened with Nations presenting their commitment to the work with local governments in the implementation of the CBD.

 

In the opening session the nations of Japan, Spain, Brazil, Singapore, Mexico, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom highlighted the pivotal role cities and local authorities play in the implementation of the CBD in their countries.

 

The City Biodiversity Summit was attended by more than 500 delegates from 230 local authorities as well as international organizations around the world. The event was organised by the Aichi/Nagoya Promotional Committee in partnership with the SCBD and ICLEI. Delegates included the Mayor of Montréal, Gérald Tremblay; Mayor of Durban, Obed Mlaba; Mayor of Curitiba Luciano Ducci, Minister of the Environment for the Brussels Capital Region, Evelyne　Huytebroeck and heads of international organizations.

 

The City Biodiversity Summit’s main focus was to encourage Parties to adopt the Plan of Action on Sub-national Governments, Cities and Local Authorities for Biodiversity (2011-2020), currently under negotiation at the CBD COP.

 

During the opening session, Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), said there had been an ongoing attempt to promote the role of cities for biodiversity conservation that has run through past CBD COPs in Curitiba and Bonn, and had culminated with this, the first City Biodiversity Summit in 2010.

 

Djoghlaf said the new Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO) noted urbanization as one of the main causes of biodiversity decline. "Thus engaging the local authorities for the preservation of biodiversity is important and has to be done in partnership with national governments." he said.

 

President of ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, David Cadman, said local governments were key to implementing the objectives of the CBD, and an important source of information on biodiversity.

 

"ICLEI works with our 1200 cities and local government members to improve sustainability at the local level," he said. "Biodiversity is one of the eight major strategies of the new ICLEI strategy adopted just two weeks ago in Incheon, Korea. Our work in this regard is complemented and integrated with climate, water and other urban management programmes and is lead by our Global Biodiversity Programme, Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) founded in partnership with IUCN in 2006."

Julia Marton-Lefèvre,

 

"Many decisions which affect biodiversity are taken at the local level, that’s why IUCN strongly supports efforts by local authorities towards biodiversity conservation. In this respect, IUCN supports the adoption of the CBD Plan of Action on Sub-national Governments, Cities and Local Authorities," she said.

 

"Together with ICLEI, IUCN is one of the founders of Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) Programme which helps cities develop and monitor their biodiversity plans and actively supports their implementation." Marton-Lefèvre said IUCN was in looking forward to working with ICLEI on strengthening this collaboration.

 

Director General of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said IUCN was increasingly recognizing the importance of the urban and local dimensions. "With more than half the world’s population already living in cities, and consuming most of the planet’s resources, IUCN realizes that effective conservation cannot be confined to remote and pristine natural areas, but should take a holistic view and include all relevant actors.

 

"We will work closely with ICLEI on the matter of our engagement with cities," she said.

 

"IUCN hopes that adoption of this Plan of Action will lead to a joint effort of national and local governments, and stands ready to support better management and conservation of our precious natural resources in cities, towns and other urban areas around the world."

 

Pavan Sukhdev, Special Advisor, Head of UNEP’s Green Wave Initiative and Study Leader of UNEP - The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), emphasized the pivotal role of local governments. He said TEEB D2 Study for Local and Regional Policymakers focuses on cities and local authorities, and he looked forward to implementing the D2 in cities with the help of organisations such as ICLEI.

 

Cecilia Njenga of UN-HABITAT said cities were the major cause of biodiversity loss but could benefit from the various ecosystem services provided by the biodiversity. The adverse impacts of urbanization on biodiversity and environment affect the urban poor most, and increase the vulnerabilities of the poor," she said.

 

The role of intergovernmental organisations, such as UNESCO, was discussed by Gretchen Kalonji, Assistant Director General of UNESCO. She said UNESCO recognized the importance of partnerships at the local level and defined its first role as one which helps mobilize networks to take action.

 

Kalonji said intergovernmental organisation should assist member states to organise actions around the issues of biodiversity and cities. Kalonji said UNESCO’s interest in cities would be intensified in the near future, and the URBIS partnership (including ICLEI and IUCN) was an important step in this regard, along with the efforts of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme.

 

"UNESCO greatly values its partnership with local governments and communities and looks forward to enhancing it in the future," she said.

 

On the second and final day of the City Biodiversity Summit, Mayors and other delegates drafted and adopted the Aichi/Nagoya Declaration on Cities and Biodiversity, which supports the adoption by the Parties at the CBD COP of the Plan of Action on Sub-national Governments, Cities and Local Authorities for Biodiversity (2011-2020).

 

Mayor of Nagoya, Takashi Kawamura, formally accepted the declaration from ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability President, David Cadman.

 

Kawamura and the Governor of Aichi Prefecture will have an opportunity to present this declaration to the High Level Segment of the CBD COP on Thursday, 28 October, during the Parties negotiations. Here the Parties will vote on whether or not to adopt the plan.

 

Mayor Tremblay of Montréal said: "The City Biodiversity Summit was a great step forward and we are delighted that the Plan of Action on Cities was endorsed by Working Group Two. We urge Parties to adopt the Plan of Action on Cities later this week and to seriously consider funding the initiative of cities."

 

Mayor Obed Mlaba of Durban said: "The City Biodiversity Summit is an important next step in ensuring that local governments worldwide play a critical role in protecting the biodiversity that is the basis of all human development now and in the future."

 

Mayor Luciano Ducci of Curitiba said: "We believe we have made real advances in the City Biodiversity Summit and the CBD COP10. We hope more cities will join this initiative and work together to halt biodiversity loss around the world."

 

The Deputy Mayor of Bonn, Angelica-Maria Kappel, said: "We believe the City Biodiversity Summit was a great success and we applaud Aichi/Nagoya and ICLEI for gathering together such a large number of local authorities in support of the Plan of Action on Cities. We also thank the marvellous construction of the Global Partnership on Cities and Biodiversity for the effective preparation work."

 

Please see the full text of the Declaration.