Sustainability
COP15: Ambitious Biodiversity Framework provides businesses with clear pathways for action, says ICC
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has released a statement applauding the efforts made by countries to overcome differences and to successfully adopt the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity which is deteriorating worldwide at rates unprecedented in human history.
Concluded at COP15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, the Framework sets goals and targets for the next decade and, for the first time, specific targets focused on business and on consumers.
An unprecedently strong business presence at COP15 called for an effective and ambitious Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework that would provide businesses with clear pathways for action, supported by government measures. ICC participated in the negotiations with a delegation of over 70 members working closely with partner organisations and other stakeholders to coordinate business input on relevant issues.
ICC Secretary General John Denton said: “Businesses are already taking action to reduce negative and increase positive impacts on biodiversity, and to be more transparent on their risks, impacts and dependencies on nature. COP15 has sent a clear signal that governments must encourage and accelerate this momentum through coordinated policies and tools that encourage and incentivise businesses, and decisively align private and public investments towards positive biodiversity outcomes.”
ICC also advocated for a result from the controversial discussions on “digital sequence information” that would support, and not hinder, research and innovation efforts around the world.
Commenting on the decision to establish a global benefit sharing mechanism, Daphne Yong-d’Hervé, ICC delegation head at COP15 said : “Biodiversity-based research and innovation are key factors in delivering solutions to tackle environmental and other global challenges, and for building a sustainable bio-economy. Researchers and businesses working with genetic resources and sequences around the world are currently challenged by the administrative complexity and legal uncertainty of the patchwork of national access and benefit regulations worldwide. ICC will work with countries over the next few years to ensure that a new global mechanism will help decrease, and not add to, these challenges.”
ICC also welcomed the commitment by countries to provide the resources necessary to implement the new biodiversity framework through funding targets, and by redirecting financial flows from harmful subsidies towards positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
