The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is one of the major global nature conservation treaties widely considered as the overarching legal framework for global biodiversity conservation.
It has a membership is 196 Parties across the globe and Zimbabwe is a member.
This year Zimbabwe is participating at the 16th UN Biodiversity Conference 2024, in Cali Colombia.
The convention was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on June 5 1992 and entered into force on December 29 1993.
Zimbabwe is party to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), having signed and ratified the convention in June 1992 and November 1994 respectively.
Parties, including Zimbabwe draw their national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs) in direct response to their membership to CBD.
Article 1 of the CBD provides for the objectives as the promotion of conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
The convention creates obligations for Parties such as national biodiversity strategies and plans (article 6), ex situ conservation (article 9), sustainable use (article 10) and socioeconomic measures acting as incentives for conservation and sustainable use (article 11).
The Conference of the Parties (CoP) is the governing body of the convention. The CBD is a consensus-based convention hence decisions are ordinarily reached by consensus.
In the unlikely event of disagreements (lack of consensus) voting is done only on issues specifically provided for in the rules of procedures.
There are two protocols under the convention, namely, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (January 2000, Montreal, Canada) and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilisation (ABS, October 2010, Nagoya) which sets out an international framework for the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and technologies, and by appropriate funding, thereby contributing to the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of its components.
Key institutional structures for CBD comprise the CoP which is the governing body of the convention, the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) and the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI).
The CoP comprises of all Parties and is the apex structure for CBD.
This is the body that considers and adopts decisions in terms of the convention, reviews reports from the Secretariat and subsidiary bodies.
The SBI was established by Decision XII/26 of the CoP to the CBD and to particularly focus on the: (a) review of progress in implementation;
(b) strategic actions to enhance implementation as well as the strengthening means of implementation.
The SBSTTA is established I terms of Article 25 of CBD to provide the COP and, as appropriate, its other subsidiary bodies, with timely advice relating to the implementation of the convention.
Zimbabwe has to defend its interest effectively and also engage with the Africa Group to ensure a unified position for the Africa Region.
The country will continue to defend the country's biodiversity conservation philosophy particularly in sustainable utilisation of genetic resources and ensuring enabling conditions for the implementation of GBF and the Convention.
Zimbabwe is interested in resource mobilisation and the development and operationalisation of the Global Biodiversity Fund(GBF), capacity-building and development in biodiversity conservation.
Zimbabwe's interventions are largely motivated by biodiversity conservation and related approach, events that are taking in other conventions as well as other national circumstances.
Target number 3 of the GBF requires the world to conserve and manage at least 30 percent of the world's lands, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans by 2030.
Zimbabwe will advocate for the improvement of qualitative aspects of the areas under conservation including Protected and Conserved Areas (PCAs), not just increasing conservation areas.
The GBF finance target seeks to mobilise at least US$200bn per year by 2030 from all sources, although the biodiversity finance gap for conservation is roughly US$700bn annually.
Developed countries are expected to progressively increase their contribution to at least US$20bn per year by 2025 and to at least US$30bn per year by 2030.
The country will insist on the establishment, operationalisation, funding and governance of the Global Biodiversity Fund consistent with Articles 20 and 21 of the CBD text, that is, as a separate fund from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and to be under the control of the COP.
There are divergent views on resource mobilisation with ever widening divisions between developing and developed country parties.
Developing countries insists on the need for Global North to fulfil their obligations under the Convention and mobilise the necessary financial resources while developed countries are reluctant to commit themselves to their financial obligations. There is a serious funding gap for biodiversity yet there is so much the Global North is benefiting at the expense of the Global South.
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Initially, US$700bn was initially needed to fund implementation of the GBF but the figure keeps going down due to resistance from developed countries.
Operationalisation of the multilateral mechanism for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources, including a global fund.
Zimbabwe will support establishment of a country allocation mechanism in the fund, clear benefit sharing mechanism and measurable capacity building and technology transfer targets.
Zimbabwe stands to benefit from this multilateral global fund considering its rich biodiversity.
The country will use every opportunity to advance sustainable utilisation and lobby for the inclusion of Human Wildlife Conflict indicators in the monitoring framework.
Tinashe Farawo is the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management spokesman.
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