Statement from scientists on the need for a joint work programme between the CBD and the UNFCCC

 Researchers have sent a letter to the Parties and Presidents of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, COP29) asking them to initiate processes towards the creation of a much-needed joint policy framework between the CBD and the UNFCCC. 

Scientists from #insert your institution# are among the signatories of a letter to the Parties and Presidents of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, COP29) asking them to make high levels of integration between biodiversity and climate change agendas a priority both in the upcoming COP16 and COP29 and in the years to come.

The call was signed by over 140 scientists from nearly 50 countries with expertise in climate change and biodiversity, including a previous UNFCCC COP president, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) global and regional assessment authors, members of the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel from IPBES, as well as many of the authors of the 2021 IPBES - IPCC Co-Sponsored Workshop Report on Biodiversity and Climate Change. 

The letter argues that the current lack of coherent and comprehensive joint policy framework between the UNFCCC and the CBD is leading to implementation gaps between the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement, whereby (i) some problems are inadequately tackled by both plans, and (ii) solutions developed to tackle one crisis can inadvertently make the other worse.

The signatories  which include me, believe a joint work programme between the CBD and the UNFCCC, organised in a transparent and inclusive way, could:

• oversee the alignment of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans to achieve shared objectives;
• be a hub for developing and strengthening methods to monitor and review progress on the interdependent objectives of the GBF and the Paris Agreement;
• identify climate actions that are harmful to biodiversity and transform or quarantine/end them to ensure joint objectives of the Conventions are met;
• organize technical expert dialogues, including experts from different disciplines and holders of traditional knowledge;
• form a platform for visibility and recognition of efforts undertaken by countries, local governments, non-state actors, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities, to advance the program priorities. 

You can read more on the rationale for a joint work programme between the UNFCCC and the CBD here