Parties adopt the Plan of Action on Cities

29 October 2010

The Parties adopted the Plan of Action on Sub-national Governments, Cities and other Local Authorities and Biodiversity (2011-2020) today, the closing day of the tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD COP) in Nagoya, Japan.

At CBD COP9 in Bonn, Germany Decision IX/28 was taken, which first recognised the critical role cities and local authorities play in the implementation of the CBD objectives. The plan passed today advances on that by providing guidelines that national governments can follow in order to support their local authorities towards the mutually beneficial goal of achieving the objectives of the CBD.

Local government is the level of government most directly responsible for implementation, and action on the ground. As such, local governments’ collective efforts have the potential to profoundly increase the effectiveness of the CBD by complementing the efforts of nations and organisations in its implementation.

ICLEI – Local Government for Sustainability has played an important role in awareness-raising and lobbying in the lead up to COP10, through the creation of a platform for local governments at international events leading up to the CBD COP10, known as the Local Government Biodiversity Roadmap.

The Roadmap culminated in the City Biodiversity Summit, a parallel event to COP10 held earlier this week which was attended by 500 delegates from 230 local authorities and international organisations. City Biodiversity Summit was organised by the Aichi/Nagoya Promotional Committee and ICLEI in partnership with the CBD. Here Mayors and leaders of local authorities drafted and adopted the Declaration of Cities and Local Authorities and Biodiversity, which expressed support for the Plan of Action.

The Mayor of Nagoya, Takashi Kawamura, and the Governor of the Aichi Prefecture, Masaaki Kanda delivered this message on behalf of local governments, in an address to the High-Level Segment of the COP, yesterday (28 October).

The acceptance of the Plan by the Parties is expected to move local governments up on the international biodiversity agenda and further facilitate the critical support needed for them to support their nations in the implementation of the CBD.