At the 15th session of the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) in Montreal from 7 to 19 December, the European Union and the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OAKTS) will support the implementation of an ambitious, comprehensive and transformative global policy . framework for biodiversity after 2020 with goals stop and reverse the descent. Adopting this framework is critical because the alarming loss of biodiversity threatens the food security, health, economy and livelihoods of billions of people.

Ministers from EU, African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, meeting in Brussels on November 29 on the occasion of a joint meeting of the OAKTS and EU Councils of Ministers, discussed what they expected from this landmark conference. To be successful, this future framework needs to be included measurable targets to be supported by a reliable framework for monitoring and review and adequate resources to support its implementation.

COP15 will be an important conference where world leaders will gather to agree on global protection of our biodiversity. We have witnessed serious declines in various species and it is time to act. Protecting our ecosystem is a shared responsibility for us as human beings. We are excited to be working with OAKTS and its members to address this global challenge.

Jiří Kozák, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic

I am pleased to note that we are committed to working together to conserve biodiversity, which is a shared priority and a prerequisite for life on Earth. In this area, we have long-term cooperation with the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States through many programmes, whereby individual countries are supported in their efforts to halt biodiversity loss. We strive to conserve wildlife and biodiversity, while at the same time we are committed to ensuring the livelihoods of local communities and indigenous peoples. We have doubled our external funding for biodiversity, now representing €7 billion in biodiversity investment worldwide, especially in the most vulnerable countries. We are ready to continue this cooperation with our partners.

Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships

Out of an estimated total of 8 million species of animals and plants, one million of these are threatened with extinction, many of which may become so in the coming decades, affecting us all, and especially the most vulnerable. With its 79 member countries, OAKTS is committed to ensuring that COP15 results make a significant contribution to addressing this global biodiversity challenge.

dr. Amery Browne, Trinidad and Tobago Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

During COP15, OAKPS and the EU together with the United Nations Environment Program will host a high-level event to address the adoption of a post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

Context

One million species are threatened with extinction. Considering that half of the world’s economic production depends on nature, the protection of biodiversity consists primarily in the fact that it is necessary to preserve the basic building blocks of nature, on which we all depend.

At the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, a global framework for biodiversity after 2020 will be adopted. This framework constitutes the strategic vision and global plan for the conservation, protection, restoration and sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystems for the next decade.

The European Union and OAKTS support several programs in the field of biodiversity, including for example:

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