Catch up on the main nature policy news from May
In a nutshell: CBD technical meetings outcome / Progress on European nature legislation / Ministers commit to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030 / Andean Parliament declares State of Emergency in the Amazon / Global Biodiversity Framework Fund approves second round of grants
CBD technical meetings in Nairobi come to an end
The 26th session of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-26) and the 4th session of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI-4) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) came to an end in Nairobi, Kenya.
The SBSTTA meeting adopted recommendations on ocean biodiversity, synthetic biology, biodiversity and health, and the monitoring framework of the Biodiversity Plan.
According to the CBD, Parties made “significant progress” on ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs) to be defined in COP16. A proposed Global Plan of Action on Biodiversity and Health was also discussed during the session.
Meanwhile, SBI focused on the monitoring framework for the Biodiversity Plan, resources mobilization, the implementation mechanism and mainstreaming, among other topics. Countries failed to reach an agreement on a strategy for resource mobilization to close the biodiversity finance gap, Carbon Pulse reported.
Business for Nature attended SBI and developed a more detailed summary on the meeting.
Update on EU nature legislation
Ahead of the European Parliament elections, taking place 6-9 June, there’s been movement on two of the union’s proposed nature legislations: the Nature Restoration Law (NRL) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).
Regarding the NRL, a group of 11 environment ministers are calling for the EU Council to save the law. Although it was already approved by the European Parliament nearly two months ago, the deal no longer has majority support amongst the 27 Member States.
Supportive countries, including Ireland, Germany, Spain, Estonia, Denmark and France, have written to countries that are likely either abstaining or voting against the law, including Hungary, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, Austria and Poland, urging them to reconsider. Member States will meet again on 17 June, when they could potentially vote on the law.
On 24 May, the European Council approved the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive , marking the final step in the legislative process for the directive to enter into force. The law aims to prevent corporate abuses of human rights and the environment by strengthening rules for large EU companies as well as large non-EU companies active in the region.
Member states have two years to start implementing the CSDDD. The directive went through months of back-and-forth negotiations within the Council, which ultimately watered down the ambition from the first text. The scope has been scaled back, reducing the number of in-scope companies by about 66%. The directive now only covers companies with at least 1,000 employees and revenues greater than €450 million in the last financial year.
The timeline for implementation has also been loosened, with the first, largest companies, being impacted by the directive three years after it enters into force. The smallest in-scope businesses would be fully implementing the CSDDD five years after it enters into force.
Ministers commit to halting and reversing deforestation by 2030
Ministers and other high-level representatives adopted a statement committing the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) members to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. The statement was the main outcome of the 19th session of the UNFF, in which representatives also committed to take urgent action to prevent forest and land degradation by the end of the decade.
Although the adoption of the statement was hailed as a success by some of the meeting’s organizers, analysis by the Earth Negotiations Bulletin notes that there was discontent with the final language in the text, since it was “watered down to achieve a ‘lowest common denominator’ consensus”.
Andean Parliament declares State of Emergency in the Amazon
A State of Emergency in the Amazon basin has been declared by the Andean Parliament, a governing and deliberative body of the Andean Community that groups representatives from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile.
The parliament based its announcement on the recommendations of the Amazon Report, co-developed with the Scientific Panel for the Amazon (SPA). This report outlines that despite the region’s global importance for water and climate regulation, it is nearing a tipping point, which could cause the rainforest to transform to a drier, more savannah-like state.
The Andean Parliament has called for urgent action and cooperation between regional and international bodies and will present the declaration to CBD Parties at COP16.
New round of grants approved by the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund
The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) has approved over $70 million for a new round of 18 projects that will support the implementation of the Biodiversity Plan.
These projects will be developed in Angola, Belize, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fiji, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mozambique, Nauru, Palau, Peru, the Philippines, Samoa, Senegal, South Africa, Suriname, and Tonga.
They will advance the implementation of targets 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 13, 18, 19, 22, and 23, with a special focus on consolidating over 8 million hectares of terrestrial and marine protected areas.
Read the April news update to catch up on previous nature policy stories from around the world.