The Road to Kunming - Devising the World Bank's contribution to build a Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
Biodiversity is an essential element of life, the very fabric of "natural capital". The enormous variety and complex interactions between species, no matter how small or insignificant they might seem, keep our ecosystems functional and make our economies productive. Nature provides nutritious food, supplies clean air and water, sustains livelihoods, acts as a buffer against extreme weather events and regulates the climate.
Our biodiverse planet is threatened by an unprecedented transformation and exploitation of terrestrial and marine ecosystems – driven mostly by human activities. One million animal and plant species, out of a total estimate of 8 million, risk extinction, many within decades, according to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
The fifteenth Conference of Parties (COP-15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, now planned to take place in 2021 in Kunming, China, offers a unique chance to reverse the tide on biodiversity and ecosystem services loss over the coming decades as governments agree to a new Global Biodiversity Framework that will replace the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
The World Bank Group is supporting the development of the Framework through an initiative named “The Road to Kunming”. This complements the WBG’s rich operational engagement on biodiversity and ecosystems.
Under the “Road to Kunming” work, GPS is supporting a series of analytical and outreach initiatives to inform the new Global Biodiversity Framework. The objective is to shed new light on the linkages between healthy ecosystems and healthy economic and financial systems; and on the policies that can maintain or restore that nexus.
Currently, the following papers are work-in-progress:
Analytical work
- Integrated economic-ecosystem modelling that will project the impact of various climate and policy scenarios on key ecosystem services through 2030
- A WBG Biodiversity Position Paper aimed at engaging economic decision-makers on the importance of nature in the development process.
- A WBG Biodiversity Finance Issues Paper aimed at informing the World Bank’s policy dialogue on financial sector policies to maximize private finance for biodiversity and ecosystems. Read the report here.
Outreach and Engagement
The World Bank is an “active observer” in the CBD negotiation process, supporting the drafting of the post-2020 framework and providing technical expertise on topics such as resource mobilization. This work is also connecting external and internal stakeholders through biodiversity-themed events. Some key events in the past include:
Biodiversity finance workshop in China: The World Bank, in partnership with China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, organized a workshop centered around the principle of maximizing private finance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, in November 2019.
Annual Meetings event: With the objective of putting biodiversity on the agenda of Ministers of Finance, a series of events are being planned for the Annual and Spring meetings of the World Bank. The first event on Investing in Nature took place during the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in October 2019.
Working with partners
In addition to the ongoing interaction with CBD parties and stakeholders, the GPS team is closely coordinating its analytical work with the team performing the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity, set up by the U.K. Treasury. Other partners include the World Economic Forum, leading on the Nature Action Agenda; The Nature Conservancy, supporting the Resource Mobilization consultation with Germany and Costa Rica; the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); and the World Conservation Congress (WCC).