International Cities Join ICLEI’s Global Biodiversity Programme: Local Action for Biodiversity

Leading international cities publically joined ICLEI’s Global Biodiversity Programme, Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB), during a press conference at the tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD COP10) showing their commitment to biodiversity management at the local level.

Mayor of Montreal, Gérald Tremblay and Mayor of Curitiba, Luciano Ducci, signed the contract during a press conference where they, urged the parties to adopt the Plan of Action on Sub-national Government, Cities and other Local Authorities and Biodiversity.

They were joined at the press conference by the Mayor of Durban, Obed Mlaba, Minister for Environment of Brussels Capital Region, Evelyne　Huytebroeck and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability President, David Cadman who also encouraged Parties adopting the Plan of Action on Cities.

Mayor Tremblay said it was imperative that nations partner with cities, large and small, to implement the objectives of the CBD.

In a lucky draw held at the City Biodiversity Summit, a parallel event to the CBD COP 10 which brought together 500 delegates including representatives and mayors from 230 local authorities and international organisations, Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi, won participation to the prestigious LAB project.

ICLEI’s LAB team also launched the Local Action for Biodiversity Guidebook: Biodiversity Management for Local Governments at the CBD COP10. The first of its kind, the ICLEI.LAB Guidebook is an international guidebook for local government biodiversity practitioners which sets out case studies from leading local governments who have participated on the LAB Programme. The ICLEI/LAB Guidebook was launched at the official ICLEI side event at the CBD COP10.

UN-HABITAT and the Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity (SCBD) have launched an aligned complementary sister publication to the LAB Guidebook at the same event. This publication titled: Supporting Local Action for Biodiversity: The Role of National Governments, is aimed at guiding national government support of local governments.

The United Nations University: Policy Report on Cities, Biodiversity and Governance: Perspectives and Challenges of the Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity at the City Level was also mentioned as a related publication.