9th Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity
2-5 July 2019 | Trondheim, Norway
Summary Highlights: 2-5 July 2019
Highlights for Friday, 5 July 2019
On Friday, participants to the Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity heard presentations on communication, outreach, and the role of stakeholders with regard to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, as well as on key cross-cutting issues, including capacity building, resource mobilization, and research needs. They addressed the draft Co-Chairs' report, which will be finalized in the coming weeks on the basis of participants' input; heard comments on next steps from Conference Co-Chairs' Nina Vik and Finn Katerås, and the Co-Chairs of the Open-ended Working Group of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on the post-2020 framework Francis Ogwal and Basile van Havre; and heard a closing statement from Ellen Hambro, Norwegian Environment Agency.
Jane Smart, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), stressed the need for increased clarity of the post-2020 framework and its targets, and for alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Minister of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica, emphasized the need for: phasing out perverse incentives; open and transparent objectives regarding resource mobilization; and aligning public and private investments with national biodiversity strategies and action plans.
Sudhanshu Sarronwala, WWF International, highlighted a WWF study examining consumer mindsets in ten developing countries, where half the people believe that biodiversity is declining, but only 40% see biodiversity and nature as an important source of raw materials for the economy; and only one third associate biodiversity with basic necessities such as food and fresh water. Highlighting how targets are influencing business, Alice Durand-Reville, Danone, explained that Danone has committed to carbon neutrality by 2050 throughout the whole value chain, which entailed rethinking products and energy consumption.
Joji Cariño, Forest Peoples Programme, presented on the contributions of indigenous peoples and local communities to CBD implementation, and lessons shared through the Local Biodiversity Outlooks. Christian Schwarzer, Germany, and Melina Sakiyama, Brazil, Global Youth Biodiversity Network, urged addressing overproduction and consumption, global inequalities, and assassinations of nature defenders. Jamison Ervin, UN Development Programme, highlighted the need for developing capacities to: replicate; scale-up; transform supply chains; tell a good story; unleash private sector capital; create a planetary safety net; and buffer the most vulnerable.
Mark Zimsky, Global Environment Facility (GEF), noted that the GEF's seventh replenishment has been reoriented to address the systemic and underlying drivers of biodiversity loss, adding that a two-track investment strategy is focusing on: cities; sustainable forest management; and food systems, land use, and restoration. Meriem Bouamrane, Man and the Biosphere Programme, UNESCO, highlighted: the contribution of culture and of diverse knowledge and value systems; the role of education and life-learning processes; the need for countries to have endogenous research and monitoring capacities; interdependency between biodiversity and development issues; and the need to address urban issues.
Francis Ogwal and Basile van Havre, Co-Chairs of the CBD Open-ended Working Group on the post-2020 framework, identified new elements to be addressed, including the need to involve new sectors, and consider new factors such as population change, food and agriculture, human health, deforestation, and restoration.
Conference Co-Chairs Nina Vik and Finn Katerås announced that all conference outputs, including the Co-Chairs' report and powerpoint presentations, will be available on the conference webpage. They expressed the hope that the Conference provided knowledge, friendships, inspiration, and motivation to participants, and invited them to provide their feedback in the upcoming month.
Ellen Hambro stressed the scientific basis has never been bolder, and the biodiversity crisis never higher on the global agenda. She expressed her appreciation to all participants for their enthusiasm and dedication, and closed the Conference at 1:00 pm.
The Conference outputs, including the Co-Chairs’ draft report, presentations, and outputs from the interactive sessions are available at: https://trondheimconference.org/
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and a summary report from the 9th Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity. The summary report is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
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Highlights for Thursday, 4 July 2019
On Thursday, participants to the Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity heard presentations on developing the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and engaged in an interactive exercise on the post-2020 framework and what is needed to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity on "Living in harmony with nature." In the evening, participants enjoyed a concert in the Nidaros Cathedral.
Francis Ogwal, Uganda, and Basile van Havre, Canada, Co-Chairs of the Open-ended Working Group on the post-2020 framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), presented on the ongoing consultation process and the Working Group's goals, targets, and milestones. They shared key messages emerging from regional consultations, including that the post-2020 framework should: be well articulated and easy to communicate; build on the current Strategic Plan; include specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic, and time-bound (SMART) targets; integrate the CBD protocols, and address synergies with other conventions and linkages with climate change; and address enablers, including means of implementation.
Mphatso Martha Kalemba, Malawi, shared lessons learnt from efforts to implement the Aichi targets in her country. Katia Karousakis, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), highlighted calls for smarter post-2020 targets, building on the effective elements of the existing framework, and added that multi-country datasets could provide guidance on indicators. Verona Collantes-Lebale, UN Women, called for clear links to the SDGs, and drew attention to expert recommendations that the post-2020 framework must be rights-based, inclusive, and gender responsive, and promote effective participation in biodiversity conservation.
Norbert Baerlocher, Switzerland, presented on the outcomes of the consultation workshop of the biodiversity-related conventions on the post-2020 framework (June 2019, Bern, Switzerland). Malta Qwathekane, South Africa, noted that a common agenda is essential for halting biodiversity loss and environmental degradation. Hamdallah Zedan, Egypt, indicated that the post-2020 framework can help foster coherent implementation of the Rio Conventions through collaborative work between focal points.
Kerstin Stendahl, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Secretariat, presented on strategies and strategy processes in other sectors where there are biodiversity-related impacts and dependencies, with a focus on the IPCC and the chemicals and waste cluster. Akanksha Khatri, World Economic Forum (WEF) Centre for Global Public Goods, drew attention to WEF's 2019 Global Risks Report, which shows that societal and environmental risks are among those with the highest impact and highest likelihood of happening, and urged moving from a project-oriented to a platform approach.
Participants discussed, among other issues: avoiding different sets of targets under the SDGs and the post-2020 framework; the importance of national-level coordination; and new technologies, including the need for transparency and a conversation on ethics and values.
Introducing the interactive exercise, Neville Ash elaborated on possible ingredients for the post-2020 framework, including: vision and mission; review and accounting mechanisms; implementation mechanisms and enablers; and integration with the agendas of other multilateral environmental agreements. He also highlighted the need to address the overall structure of the framework, as well as targets relating to outcomes, benefits, drivers and enablers. Participants met in small groups to address these elements in the context of selected topics, including: sustainable production and consumption; mainstreaming; sustainable use; food and agriculture; and protected areas.
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Highlights for Wednesday, 3 July 2019
On Wednesday, participants to the Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity heard presentations focusing on “achieving change.” In the afternoon, small groups met to discuss a series of topics selected by the participants. In the evening, a reception hosted by the Norwegian Environment Agency took place at the Sverresborg Folk Museum.
Peter White, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, presented perspectives from the private sector. Sol Ortiz García, Mexico, showcased biodiversity mainstreaming as a key strategy for achieving change. Bob Scholes, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, presented on the findings of the IPBES Thematic Assessment on land degradation and restoration. Bernardo Strassburg, International Institute for Sustainability, Brazil, outlined a strategic approach to restoration planning in Brazil. Drawing on examples from multilateral processes, Aleksandar Rankovic, Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), France, noted that the post-2020 framework should focus on creating the best possible conditions for domestic implementation.
A panel discussion then addressed interlinkages among different sectors and the value of taking a “nexus” approach. Luc Bas, IUCN, urged for more investment in nature-based solutions, also as part of the climate change debate. Vera Agostini, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), presented on fisheries' sustainability. María Rivera, Ramsar Convention Secretariat, called for an integrated approach, which entails: linking biodiversity to water; including wetlands under nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change; and increasing cooperation among different focal points. Suneetha Subramanian, United Nations University International Institute for Global Health, called for linking social considerations to the biophysical environment through a set of institutions, and for making the connection between health and biodiversity.
In the afternoon, participants heard from Anne Nuorgam, Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, on perspectives and insights from indigenous peoples on the post-2020 framework; and from Keping Ma, Chinese Academy of Sciences, on China's ecological conservation redlining policy. Participants then met in small groups to share their own experiences with a focus on good practices, aiming to identify which changes need to happen and how, on the basis of successes and failures in the implementation of the Aichi targets. Several small groups discussed topics including: voluntary commitments; ecological connectivity; biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction; spatial targets; participatory approaches in species conservation; implementation of Aichi Target 18 on traditional knowledge; and experience with the voluntary peer-review under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
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Highlights for Tuesday, 2 July 2019
On Tuesday, participants to the Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity heard opening statements and keynote presentations; discussed the key findings of recent global, regional, and thematic assessments, and their implications for the development of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework; and held roundtable discussions on possible pathways to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity on "Living in harmony with nature."
Henrik Olsen, Saami Parliament, underlined the relevance of traditional knowledge for the entire society, and called for indigenous peoples' involvement in all biodiversity-related processes. Ola Elvestuen, Minister of Climate and Environment, Norway, called for system-wide transformative change to halt the global decline of nature. Maria Claudia Garcia, Vice Minister of Environmental Policies and Normalization, Colombia, announced that Colombia will host the third session of the Open-ended Working Group of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on the post-2020 framework in July 2020. Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Minister of Environment and Forestry, Indonesia, highlighted biodiversity conservation efforts in her country. Zhai Qing, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment, China, invited active participation in the “Sharm El-Sheikh to Kunming Action Agenda for Nature and People” towards a realistic post-2020 framework echoing and reinforcing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Cristiana Paşca Palmer, CBD Executive Secretary, stressed the need to scale up financing for nature-based solutions and urged towards focusing on transformative solutions. Anne Larigauderie, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), drew attention to IPBES work to build the knowledge base, and its contribution to inform transformative change and achieve simultaneously SDGs related to food, climate, health, water, and biodiversity. Johan Rockström, University of Potsdam, presented on the interconnected biodiversity and climate challenges. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UN Environment Programme, stressed that ecosystems are a key ingredient for achieving the SDGs in a world of climate change, and called for a paradigm shift, including through engaging other sectors.
The session on recent assessments and their implications for the post-2020 framework featured presentations on:
- the IPBES Global Assessment on biodiversity and ecosystem services;
- the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels;
- the report on the State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO);
- the Global Resources Outlook 2019 by the International Resource Panel; and
- the World Ocean Assessment from the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment.
Following the opening session of the Trondheim Conference, a high-level meeting with invited guests was held in parallel. Hosted by Ola Elvestuen, Minister of Climate and Environment, Norway, the meeting focused on the post-2020 framework. It included sessions on biodiversity financing and implementation of the post-2020 framework, and a roundtable multi-stakeholder dialogue on ambitions and actions. In the evening, participants to a high-level dinner discussed issues related to reducing deforestation from globally traded agricultural commodities.
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High-Level Meeting
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Resources for the 9th Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity
- Website for the 9th Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity
- Programme for the 9th Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity
IISD ENB/ENB+ Meeting Coverage
- 2018 UN Biodiversity Conference, 14-29 November 2018, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt
- 8th Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity, 31 May - 3 June 2016, Trondheim, Norway
- 7th Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity - Ecology and Economy for a Sustainable Society, 27-31 May 2013, Trondheim, Norway
- 6th Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity, 1-5 February 2010, Trondheim, Norway
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