2011-2020 - United Nations Decade on Biodiversity
 
       

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The UN DoB has been completed. These pages are being maintained for archival purposes only. However, GDRC continues to work on the themes related to biodivercity within the post-2015 agenda and related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).


2011-2020: UN Decade on Biodiversity

Biodiversity is life.
Biodiversity is our life.

The years from 2011 to 2020 has been declared as the "United Nations Decade on Biodiversity" by the United Nations. The Decade was declared in order to contribute to the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.

The Decade aims to promote public awareness on biodiversity and carry out actions that support the preservation of biological assets, as well as strengthen networks for implementation of the Convention on Bilogical Diversity, and mainstream efforts within larger developmental and environmental activities.

GDRC has been working on this international observance, as a cross cutting theme in its programmes on sustainable development, urban environmental management and non-governmental organizations

GDRC therefore reaffirms its committment to uphold the objectives of the UN Decade on Biodiversity, and work towards better understanding of, and action on, promoting and protecting global diversity.

  • GDRC's forray into the theme of biodiversity began with the Kyoto Protocol and it's COP3 held in Kyoto in 1997. In order to highlight the interconnectedness of the 'Big Three' conventions - Climate Change, biodiversity and desertification, GDRC developed the "Trialogue" initiative, particularly focussing on the role of NGOs in the three conventions.
    Go to the Trialogue                

  • In order to help local governments and civil society entities understand the micro implications of multilateral environmental agreements, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, GDRC developed an MEA repository in the NGO Cafe.
    Go to the MEA Repository               

  • The key problems being addressed by the CBD has its precendences and causes in human lifestyles and consumption pattens - that cumulatively and collectively affect biological diversity. Every decision we take has an impact on resources consumed, and on the habitats disturbed - eventually affecting (directly or indirectly) species diversity. GDRC's contribution to this was the setting up of an initiative called "MEA and the Urban Arena" to better understand the interlinkages between global to local levels, and vice versa.
    Go to "MEAs and the Urban Arena"               

  • UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development - Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management: Biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate. Half of the tropical rainforests and mangroves have already been lost. About 75 percent of marine fisheries have been fished to capacity. 70 percent of coral reefs are endangered. We must reverse this process -- preserving as many species as possible, and clamping down on illegal and unsustainable fishing and logging practices -- while helping people who currently depend on such activities to make a transition to more sustainable ways of earning their living.
    Download the WSSD 2002 report               

  • GDRC's commitment to highlighting the importance of a number of interntional days and observances to biological diversity is outlined in the feature pages, "Do Your Bit ... " See:
Resources

Return to Sustainable Development
 Return to Sustainable Development
Contact: Hari Srinivas - hsrinivas@gdrc.org