Page 7 - Environmental_Ecology

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On 29 January 2000, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted an
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additional agreement to the Convention known as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The Protocol aims
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to protect biological diversity from potential risks posed by living modified organisms arising from modern
biotechnology. It establishes a prior informed agreement procedure to ensure that countries are provided
with the information necessary to make informed decisions before accepting imports of such organisms
into their territory. The Protocol contains a reference to a precautionary approach and reaffirms the
language of precaution in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. The
Protocol also establishes a Biosafety Clearing-House to facilitate the exchange of information on living
modified organisms and to assist countries in the implementation of the Protocol.

A further supplement to the Convention on Biological Diversity is the Nagoya Protocol. It provides
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a transparent legal framework for the effective implementation of one of the three objectives of the CBD:
the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources; adopted on 29
October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan, it entered into force on 12 October 2014. Its objective is the fair and
equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, thereby contributing to the
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

1.2 The objectives for the protection of Biodiversity and the active involvement
of businesses

European diversity is unique, but the loss of biodiversity has accelerated unprecedentedly in Europe and
the world. In Europe, around 42% of European mammals are endangered, along with 15% of birds and 45%
of butterflies and reptiles.

2020 was called the ‘super year’ for nature, as it provided several key high-level opportunities to improve
climate action, prevent further deterioration of nature and enhance action to protect biodiversity over the
next decade. However, this ambitious global roadmap for 2020 has been overshadowed by the
unprecedented crisis the world is currently facing. The COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies how negative
human impacts on natural ecosystems can have humanitarian, social and economic consequences
worldwide. The need to urgently improve the protection of biodiversity is more evident than ever,
especially in the context of increasing hunger and poverty, but at the same time it has given the planet
“breathing space” to the sensitive issue of CO2 emissions, whose dramatic decline is a consequence of the
various lock-downs implemented by individual countries, first and foremost China. 2020 has become a year
of reflection, opportunities and solutions - an opportunity for the world to incorporate nature and climate
into its recovery strategies.

Source: https://www.gybn.org/idb2020?lightbox=dataItem-k9ock45h

1 https://www.cbd.int/programmes/
2 http://bch.cbd.int/protocol/text/
3 https://www.cbd.int/abs/