Notification
Ramsar Inputs to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework process
Date: 12.08.2019
To: Ramsar Administrative Authorities and National Focal Points
In November 2018, at its fourteenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) launched the process for the preparation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework (Decision 14/34).
In Decision 14/30 (paragraph 12), the Conference requested the organization of a workshop to facilitate discussions among Parties of the various biodiversity-related Conventions to explore ways in which the Conventions can contribute to the elaboration of the post-2020 framework and identify specific elements that could be included in the framework. The workshop was held from 10 to 12 June 2019 at the headquarters of the Universal Postal Union in Bern, Switzerland, and was hosted by the Government of Switzerland. The Ramsar Secretariat will share the report when it becomes available.
In Decision SC57-26, the Ramsar Convention Standing Committee encouraged Contracting Parties, through their Ramsar National Focal Points to liaise and engage with their counterparts in the Convention on Biological Diversity and to participate in the development of their national positions related to the CBD’s post-2020 global biodiversity framework process in order to seek to ensure that Ramsar-relevant elements are included within country positions and submissions to the CBD process to develop the post-2020 biodiversity framework. The Standing Committee also encouraged Contracting Parties, again through their National Focal Points, to liaise and engage with their counterparts responsible for other biodiversity-related Conventions so as to foster synergies at the national level.
In Decision SC57-27, the Standing Committee instructed the Secretariat:
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to share with Ramsar National Focal Points all relevant notices it receives from the CBD Secretariat regarding opportunities to make submissions or otherwise contribute to the post-2020 process, and to accompany these notices with a reminder of the encouragement to engage in their national processes contained in Decision SC57-26.
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to develop and share with all National Focal Points talking points that they could opt to draw from to help them articulate the importance of wetlands and the relevance of Ramsar’s work to biodiversity, the relevance of wetlands and Ramsar’s work and data to various Aichi Biodiversity Targets, gaps in the Aichi Biodiversity Targets where wetlands are currently overlooked (e.g. marine and coastal work in the Aichi Targets largely omits consideration of coastal wetlands) and the opportunities to share knowledge and data available on Ramsar Sites and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) to address efforts outside protected areas.
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to develop and share with all National Focal Points talking points that NFPs could opt to draw from to help them articulate the importance of wetlands and the relevance of Ramsar’s work and data to their implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
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to share with all National Focal Points the document it created that maps the Ramsar Strategic Plan 2016-2024 to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the Sustainable Development Goals in support of their efforts to highlight the work and data of Ramsar in their country’s efforts to implement their relevant commitments in CBD and SDG processes.
In line with the above decisions find below and in the attachment:
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CBD Notification 2019-043 ( https://www.cbd.int/doc/notifications/2019/ntf-2019-043-post2020-en.pdf): First meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group on the. post-2020 global biodiversity framework; 27-30 August 2019 – Nairobi, Kenya
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the document “Ramsar Convention Inputs to the Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework” that National Focal Points could use to articulate the importance of wetlands and the relevance of Ramsar’s work to biodiversity, Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the Sustainable Development Goals (PDF).
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the Global Implementation Report to COP13 (Global Implementation Report) that maps in Annex 4 the Ramsar Strategic Plan 2016-2024 to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the Sustainable Development Goals.
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Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
28 rue Mauverney, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland Tel. +41 22 999 0365; fax +41 22 999 0169 |