Decade of Biodiversity
The topic of biodiversity has received greater attention from politics and business since the early 1990s, as reflected for example by the signing of the Biodiversity Convention at the so-called “Earth Summit” in 1992. However, only the first decade of the 21st century was declared as the Decade of Biodiversity by the United Nations. As part of this, five strategic goals were formulated (the so-called “Aichi biodiversity goals”), which were not achieved however.
It was not until COP15 in December 2022 that the international community reached an agreement on 23 targets within the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The GBF is a comprehensive framework, which defines targets and measures for the preservation and sustainable utilisation of biodiversity at the global level. Among other things, these targets include conserving at least 30% of the Earth’s terrestrial and marine areas, restoring at least 20% of degraded ecosystems, and reducing pollution. The GBF intends to contribute to limiting the loss of biodiversity and protecting the Earth’s ecosystems, in order to ensure a sustainable future for all.
By the time COP16 is held, the CBD signatory states will develop national strategies to implement the GBF targets. Amongst other things, the Conference will also address the definition of specific indicators for measuring and enhancing transparency. This is intended to ensure that the GBF targets do not suffer a fate similar to that of the Aichi goals.
Marine Biodiversity
The world’s oceans play a key role in preserving biodiversity, as a large portion of the Earth’s biological diversity is found there. The seas are home to millions of species, ranging from miniscule plankton to gigantic whales and sharks. They feature a multitude of diverse habitats such as coral reefs, seagrass meadows, mangrove forests, and abyssal plains.
At the same time, the oceans play a key role in regulating the climate and maintaining ecosystem services; consequently, they are of vital importance to human well-being. In 2023, after 20 years of negotiation, the international community was finally able to conclude an agreement on the protection of the seas. This treaty allows for a binding set of regulations for the high seas, for example for the creation of marine preserves, the establishment of environmental impact assessments, and other measures to better protect endangered species and habitats. (See Article Deep sea mining)
INFOBOX
Biodiversity: United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), also known as the Biodiversity Convention.
Ecosystem services: The expression “ecosystem services” refers to the benefits of nature for people, which they obtain from ecosystems and organisms such as plants and animals, for example food, medicine, and climate regulation. According to the World Economic Forum, around one half of global value added depends directly and indirectly on ecosystem services.
Earth Summit: The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992 and is often referred to as the “Earth Summit”.
COP15: COP stands for Conference of the Parties, which is the United Nations world conference on nature held since 1995; the Climate Conference is held annually and the Biodiversity Conference is held every two years. COP15 stands for the 15th Biodiversity Conference of the United Nations.
COP16: COP16 stands for the 16th Biodiversity Conference of the United Nations, which will occur in the fourth quarter of 2024 in Columbia.
The UN High Seas Treaty (officially known as the agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction or "BBNJ") is a multilateral treaty which establishes uniform rules on the preservation and sustainable utilisation of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (the high seas).
Protect biodiversity
The economy and the financial industry are increasingly aware of their responsibility to play an active role in preserving biodiversity.
In recent quarters, numerous initiatives have been launched, often emulating the climate framework conventions, which enable and facilitate topic-specific transparency and reporting.
Finance for Biodiversity is a voluntary obligation by financial institutions with the objective of stopping the loss of biodiversity and contributing to a responsible use of biodiversity. The goal is to protect and restore biodiversity through finance activities and investments, and to heighten the awareness of biodiversity-related risks and opportunities in politics and business. Finance for Biodiversity is a key part of establishing industry standards to increase the transparency of biodiversity risks and opportunities, to work on setting science-based targets, and to facilitate the exchange of knowledge on this topic within the financial industry.
In 2023, Raiffeisen KAG signed the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge and became a member of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation.
Read more about Biodiversity
Against our better judgment, humans are destroying ecological systems and using the soil for economic profit.