The International Day of Biodiversity was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1995 in a special resolution (No. A/RES/49/119) based on the recommendation of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which took place in 1992 and is celebrated annually on May 22 — the day of signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity, since 2001. Initially, the International Day of Biological Diversity was celebrated on December 29, the day the Convention entered into force. But later the date was postponed by the UN General Assembly on the recommendation of the Conference of the Parties to the 2000 Convention in order to attract more attention to the theme of Biodiversity Day.
This year, International Biodiversity Day marks the beginning of preparations for the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-16), which will be held in Colombia from October 21 to November 1, 2024.
This year, the theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity is “Be part of the Plan” - https://www.cbd.int/biodiversity-day/take-action/2024. This is a call to action to encourage governments, indigenous peoples and local communities, non-governmental organizations, lawmakers, businesses, and individuals to highlight the ways in which they are supporting the implementation of the Biodiversity Plan.
Инициатива предлагает возможности для сотрудничества и партнерства между различными участниками.
All interested parties are welcome to join the initiative.
IDB 2024 Hashtags
Join the global social media campaign using the IDB hashtag: #BiodiversityDay. You can also use #PartOfThePlan #ForNature in your social media posts.
The UN Global Compact Network Russia has joined the "Be part of the Plan" initiative and will hold a series of events on the topic "Biodiversity on the Sustainable Development Agenda. Obvious and non-obvious aspects” in order to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity conservation and promote best practices in addressing biodiversity issues. Within the framework of the series of events, non-obvious aspects of biodiversity will be examined in order to increase understanding of its role in preserving the well-being of the entire ecosystem.
A series of events of the UN Global Compact Network Russia
“Biodiversity on the Sustainable Development Agenda.
Obvious and non-obvious aspects”
May - December 2024
Information about events dates will be provided later.
Themes:
1. Biodiversity for the SDGs.
2. Biodiversity and ecosystems. The United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030. Ecosystem approach and ecosystem sustainability management.
3. Human rights and biodiversity.
4. Biodiversity and health.
5. Biodiversity and environmental agenda.
6. The role of indigenous peoples in the conservation of the global ecosystem and the role of biodiversity for the sustainable development of indigenous peoples.
7. The Kunming-Montreal Global Framework for Biodiversity Conservation. The role of Russia in the field of biodiversity conservation at the international level. Prospects for the development of a national strategy and action plan for the conservation of biodiversity.
8. International practices for the conservation of biodiversity. The potential for consolidation of biodiversity conservation projects within the framework of the BRICS.
9. The role of business in biodiversity conservation. Risks. Corporate practices. Disclosure of information related to environmental management and biodiversity.
10. Outcome of the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-16), Colombia, 21 October-1 November, 2024.
11. Perspectives on the Biodiversity Conservation Agenda at the national and international levels. Reality and possibilities.
An independent section in the series of events will be presented materials translated into Russian to make them more accessible to interested parties in the Russian Federation:
1) A Framework for Corporate Action on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (English) – 2012
2) Seven lessons on using ecosystem restoration for climate change adaptation (English) – 2022
3) The role of ecosystem restoration for the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement (English) – 2022
The translation was made by Polus and is the company's contribution to the Sustainable Development Agenda.
When biodiversity has a problem, humanity has a problem
As the global community is called to re-examine our relationship to the natural world, one thing is certain: despite all our technological advances we are completely dependent on healthy and vibrant ecosystems for our water, food, medicines, clothes, fuel, shelter and energy, just to name a few.
Biological diversity is often understood in terms of the wide variety of plants, animals and microorganisms, but it also includes genetic differences within each species — for example, between varieties of crops and breeds of livestock — and the variety of ecosystems (lakes, forest, deserts, agricultural landscapes) that host multiple kind of interactions among their members (humans, plants, animals).
Biodiversity is often considered in terms of the richness of the species diversity of plants, animals and microorganisms. Currently, about 1.75 million species have been described, most of which are small creatures such as insects. According to scientists, the real number of species is about 13 million. However, this figure, according to various estimates, varies from 3 to 100 million.
Did you know?
• Current negative trends in biodiversity and ecosystems will undermine progress towards 80% of the assessed targets of 8 Sustainable Development Goals.
• Three-quarters of the land-based environment and about 66% of the marine environment have been significantly altered by human actions.
• 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction.
The Convention on Biological Diversity is an international legal instrument whose three main objectives are the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of biodiversity and the just and equitable sharing of benefits associated with the use of genetic resources.
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework — an agreement signed in December 2022 sets goals and concrete measures to stop and reverse the loss of nature by 2050. Among the 23 indicators to be achieved by 2030: 30% conservation of land, sea and inland waters; 30% restoration of degraded ecosystems; halving the introduction of invasive species and reducing harmful subsidies by 500 billion US dollars per year.