Programme
Character
The programme draws heavily from the experiences, successes and challenges of participant cities in the Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) Project, as well as other leading cities acting for biodiversity. Strong involvement of funders and endorsers in the global initiative is also be reflected in the programme.
Programme draft as of 23th of May
Download the First Announcement (November 2007)
Final Programme
Click on the speech titles to view the corresponding presentation that was given at the conference. Real Player is required to view the webcasts of the Side Event and press conference.
Monday, 26 May 2008
13.15 Side Event ‘Cities and Biodiversity’ at COP9
18.00 Meeting of the LAB cities’ representatives
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
10.00 Conference Opening & Welcome
- Bärbel Dieckmann, Mayor and President of the WMCCC, Bonn, Germany (speech)
- Input by delegates of the International Youth Summit Go4BioDiv
- Input by delegates of the Children’s Summit
Moderation by Janos Bogardi, Rector UNU-EHS, Bonn, Germany
The many reasons for conserving biodiversity
- Bakary Kante, Director, UNEP’s Division of Environmental Law and Conventions, Nairobi, Kenya
Ecosystems, biodiversity and cities: Global issues, local solutions
- Ahmed Djoghlaf, CBD Executive Secretary, Montréal, Canada
Local governments are invited as important partners in the UNCBD-COP process
- Veerle Vandeweerd, Director, Environment and Energy Group, UNDP Bureau for Development Policy, New York
Biodiversity and poverty alleviation
Action is needed on all levels - local government acts
- Carlos Alberto Richa, Mayor, Curitiba, Brazil
The impacts of the Curitiba conference
- David Cadman, President, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability and Councillor, Vancouver, Canada
- William Jackson, Deputy Director General, IUCN-International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland
Countdown 2010 – A commitment
- Beate Jessel, President, Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Bonn, Germany
- Halvdan Skard, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CLRAE)
- Gerald Tremblay, Mayor of Montréal, Canada
Networking and cooperation on all levels
- Bärbel Dieckmann, Mayor, Bonn, Germany
Introduction to the Bonn Call for Action
14.30 Biodiversity - a matter of life (Panel 1)
Biodiversity is a matter of sustenance of all life on earth. It represents our future existence and our quality of life. Urban areas are very much dependent on intact ecosystems and the services they offer. However, biodiversity is threatened from global factors such as climate change, desertification, human consumption and poverty, and also through more local factors such as urban sprawl, sealing of land and growing urbanisation.
Biodiversity conservation efforts aid in alleviating all of these issues. There is a global mandate for all layers of society to act – however it is the heavily concentrated urban areas of the world that have a key role in biodiversity’s future.
Moderator
- Halldor Thorgeirsson, Director, Bali Road Map Support, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat, Bonn
Experts
- Thomas Elmqvist, Professor, Department of Systems Ecology, Stockholms University & Coordinator of the Stockholm Resilience Centre
- Josef H. Reichholf, The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, Munich, Germany
Local leaders
- S. Nana Ato Arthur, Regional Minister, Cape Coast, Ghana
Regional strategies in protecting coastal wetlands in the central region of Ghana
- Juan Del Granado Cosio, Mayor of La Paz, Bolivia
Climate change as a threat to municipal services in La Paz - how biodiversity is protected
- Takehisa Matsubara, Mayor of Nagoya, Japan
The coexistence of life and culture, human beings and nature is crucial
- Jairaj Phatak, Municipal Commissioner, Mumbai, India
16.30 Urban ecosystem services, economic value and human well-being (Panel 2)
Biodiversity offers multiple benefits to society. These include economic benefits like filtering water and buffering storm damage, or social benefits like a higher quality of life. Losing biodiversity is very expensive and can be more expensive than protecting biodiversity in the first place. Biodiversity is not only key to environmental issues and goals, but relates to the security and poverty alleviation aims laid out in the Millennium Development Goals.
Moderator
- Christine Alfsen, Senior Programme Specialist for Sciences, UNESCO, New York, USA
Experts
- Marco Keiner, Chief, Urban Environment Section, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi, Kenya
Cities with and without biodiversity – an introduction through photos
- Pushpam Kumar, Deputy study leader, Study on the cost of loss of biodiversity, University of Liverpool, UK
Local leaders
- Stephen Kabuye, Mayor, Chairman of Lake Victoria Municipalities, Vice-President ICLEI, Entebbe, Uganda
Biodiversity around Lake Victoria – a source of income for people
- Parmananthan Naidoo, Member of Mayoral Committee, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Debra Roberts, Head, Env. Management Department, Durban, South Africa
- Ruud Vreeman, Mayor of Tilburg, Netherlands
Biodiversity – an issue with local business
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
9.30 Local action planning for biodiversity (Panel 3)
Whereas a variety of local activities and commitments to biodiversity do exist, local governments must now focus on mainstreaming biodiversity into municipal planning and decision-making throughout the various areas of municipal actions. Land-use planning, social development planning, municipal services, procurement and awareness raising are among these actions. Instruments for biodiversity management may include regulations, financing biodiversity actions and step-by-step approaches to local urban biodiversity.
Moderator
- Monika Zimmermann, Director, ICLEI International Training Centre & Biodiversity Task Force, Freiburg, Germany
Expert
- Erach Bharucha, Director, Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education and Research, Pune, India
Urbanisation faces biodiversity management
Local leaders
- Rajlaxmi Bhosale, Mayor of Pune, India
- Aaron Durnbaugh, Deputy Commissioner of Environment, Chicago, USA
- Piet Eilander, Senior Manyger, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Maria Krautzberger, Permanent Secretary of the Senate Departement for Urban Developement, Berlin, Germany
Integrating biodiversity in city development – what are the results after 20 years of action?
- Helio Neves, Department of Environment and Nature, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Municipal means for protecting the rainforest
- Jan Stevens, Head of Service, Limburg, Belgium
- Eckart Würzner, Mayor of Heidelberg, Germany
11.30 Partnerships for biodiversity (Panel 4)
Partnerships for biodiversity exist within several levels of local governance. Not only do local governments actively engage with their citizens and stakeholder groups, but they can initiate cooperation with other local governments. A broader engagement may also include regional partnerships and cooperation with national and international institutions.
Moderator
- Yoko Watanabe, Programm Manager/ Biodiversity Specialist, GEF (Global Environmental Facilities), Washington DC, USA
Expert
- Sebastian Winkler, Head of Countdown 2010, IUCN, Brussels
Local leaders
- Bruno Cignini, Director of Environment and Agriculture, Rome, Italy
- Vuyelo Mathilda Mabena, Member of Mayoral Committee, Ekurhuleni, South Africa
Local action planning for biodiversity in Ekurhuleni
- Hedwig Mandean, Deputy Chairperson, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Andreas Müller, First Deputy Mayor & Head of General Administration, Leipzig, Germany
- Pablo C. Ortega, Mayor of San Fernando, Philippines
Marine Protected Areas – how a city protects its marine systems
- Manuela Rottmann, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Health, Frankfurt, Germany
Local network for biodiversity
- Gerald Tremblay, Mayor of Montréal, Canada
- Michel Vampouille, Vice President of Île-de-France, France
A regional approach to biodiversity management
14.30 Closing & the Bonn Call for Action
Moderation by David Cadman, ICLEI President, City Councillor, Vancouver, Canada
Round table: The way forward
- Gerald Tremblay, Mayor of Montréal and Vice Chair of World Mayors Council on Climate Change (WMCCC), Vice-President of UCLG for North America, Canada
Synergies for advancing local action
- Sebastian Winkler, Head Countdown 2010, IUCN, Brussels, Belgium
2010 and beyond – Strong partnerships are needed
- Stephen Granger, Manager, Environmental Resource Management Department, Cape Town, South Africa & Chair of LAB Steering Commitee
- Beate Jessel, President, Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Bonn, Germany
- Oliver Hillel, Programme Officer, UN-CBD Secretariat, Montréal, Canada
Global partnership for urban biodiversity
The Bonn Call for Action
- Ulrich Nitschke, Director Service Agency Communities in One World/Capacity Building International/ InWEnt gGmbH, Bonn, Germany
Summing up the comments made
- Bärbel Dieckmann, Mayor of Bonn, Germany
Agreement on the Bonn Call for Action Invitations
- Lee Sang-gyun, Deputy Mayor of Changwon City, South Korea
2008 Ramsar COP10 in Changwon
- Takehisa Matsubara, Mayor of Nagoya, Japan
Roadmap to Nagoya 2010
- Fusae Uezono, Chairperson of Nagoya City Assembly, Nagoya, Japan
Goodbye and thank you
- Bärbel Dieckmann, Mayor of Bonn, Germany
16.00 Expo of Diversity
Launch of the UNEP & ICLEI Collection of city cases (Briefcase) and of the UN-HABITAT publication on biodiversity at Lake Victoria
Thursday, 29 May 2008
10.00 COP9 opening
10.30 Intervention at High Level Segment of COP9
As the Mayors Conference is in parallel to the High Level Segment of the COP of the UN-CBD, local leaders will use this opportunity to have their voices heard in the international community through networking with key representatives from national governments and UN representatives.
The mayors Takehisa Matsubara of Nagoya, Amos Masondo of Johannesburg, Gerald Tremblay of Montreal, Carlos Alberto Richa of Curitiba and Bärbel Dieckmann of Bonn addressed the COP delegates on behalf of local governments.
Click here to view an official COP9 press conference with the mayors.