SYNERGIES AMONG THE
BIODIVERSITY RELATED
MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL
AGREEMENTS (MEAs)
Balakrishna Pisupati
National Biodiversity Authority
Government of India
The focus here….
• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)
• The Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES)
• The World Heritage Convention (WHC)
• The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
(Ramsar)
• International Treaty on Plant Genetic
Resources for Food and Agriculture
(ITPGRFA)
Quick Review ….
Underlying principles are conservation, sustainable use and balanced
development….
• 1948 – The International Union for Protection of Nature (IUPN – now
the IUCN)
• The UN International Law Commission (UN- ILC)
• International Biological Programme (IBP) – 1968-74 –MAB
• Review of MAB and focus on local solutions
• 1974 – Stockholm Summit
•
Birth of UNEP
• World Conservation Strategy – 1980
• MEAs such as CITES, CMS and others
• Emergence of WTO and TRIPs
• The UN Conference on Environment and Development – Agenda 21
and Rio Conventions
• The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
• The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)
• The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) Rio+20 ??
Parties to MEAs
Conceptual Framework
Local
Poverty
Reduction
Food Security
Biodiversity
Land
Degradation.
Human Wellbeing
Climate
Change
Sustainable
Development
Governance
Research &
Development
Capacities &
Awareness
Global
Sustainable Development - Poverty
Opportunity
Poverty
Empowerment
Capability
Security
The Framework
From the ‘dollar a day’ paradigm....
• Opportunity – collective and combined
• Security – reduced vulnerabilities and
insurance
• Capability – human capital and natural
capital
• Empowerment – need based and
participatory
Policy – Practice Links
Shifts in policy focus
Poverty
(1970s)
Environmental
degradation
(1990s)
Environmental
degradation
Poverty
The shift……
Conservation
Centered
Approaches
To
People
Centered
Approaches
Economic Case of biodiversity – Lao
PDR
(Source: IUCN, 2003)
100%
92%
90%
80%
75%
70%
59%
60%
46%
50%
40%
31%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Per capita
GDP
Employment
Exports &
forex
Government
revenues
Foreign
investment
Self-reliance and Self-sufficiency
Adaptation
Conservation
Livelihoods
Food Security
Income
Environmentalism – Theories & Principles
Equity, Justice and the Biodiversity
MEAs
Interntional Environmental Law Evolution
The first generation of international
environmental law – ‘utilitarian’ - linking
development with environment
The second generation – ‘fragmented’ delinking international environmental law
from international law
The future of environmental law –
‘kaleidoscopic’ - adaptive, responsive and
inclusive
The MA Scenario
4 MEA-scenarios
1. ’Order from strength’- a
divided world
2. ’Adapting mosaic’ – local
management of
ecosystems
’3. TechnoGarden’ – bases
development on
technical solutions
4. ’Global orchestration’ –
a global effort
MEA Synergies
 Concept as old as MEAs themselves
 Academic and policy research abound
 Conventions agreed on the need for
synergies
The challenge is moving from
‘Know – how’
to
‘Do-how’
The need for synergies
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Efficiency
Effectiveness
Reach and relevance
Replication and Scale-up
Costs
Impacts
The opportunities
• Focus on efficiency – reduced availability of
funding
• Focus on effectiveness – impacts at local level
with ongoing social and economic change
• Global, regional and national policy review
• Local implementation that combines principles
of sustainable development
• Governance and Empowerment focus
Dealing with the challenge
 Policy choices,
priorities
 Institutional mandates
and culture
 Science informing policy
and Practice
implementing policy
Synergies – Policy Challenges:
Case of Forests
UNDR, 2008
Forests
• The UN Forum on Forests (UNFF)
• The CBD – Forest Programme of Work, ABS,
PAs and others
 Ministry of Environment
 Ministry of Forests
 Ministry of Commerce and Industry
 The International Tropical Timber
Organization
 Others
The case of Access and Benefit Sharing
(ABS)
• CBD
–The Cartagena Protocol
• ITPGRFA
• UNCLOS
• WIPO – IGC
• CITES
• WTO – TRIPS
Synergies debates
MEA Coordination
Substantive and Technical Issues
MEAs and Subject areas
Cross-cutting issues
Institutional Issues
Structures and mechanisms
Roles and responsibilities
Modalities of work
Implementation Issues
Capacities
Administrative and resource requirements
Challenges
Technical and Substantive
Human Resource
Timelines and delivery
Financial
Information management
Involvement of stakeholders
Coordination
Mandates
Information sharing
Reporting
Compliance and enforcement
Coordination
Review of mandates
Assessment of structures and modes of
working
Analysis of information generation, gathering
and reporting
Follow up and Review
WE URGENTLY NEED SOME GOOD PRACTICES
AND CASE STUDIES..........
The Synergy stories……
Synergies - Learning from Practitioners
1. Co-benefits are real and sustainable but
often driven by local needs than national
policies and global targets
2. Local initiatives critical for sustainability
and be supported
3. Local and house-hold well-being form
the basis for interventions
4. Policy formulation need to be informed
and learn from the communities
5. If local action and change is key for
achieving global targets, learning from
practitioners is inevitable but often
ignored
The recommendations thus far…
• The Joint Inspection Report of the UN
• The work within UNU-IAS
• The Environment Management Group (EMG) draft
report (2007) + the Biodiversity Report (2010)
• The Helsinki meeting
• The International Environmental Governance (IEG)
debates
• The Chemical Convention Synergies
• The work of UNEP, WCMC and others
• The Joint Liaison Group (JLG) and Biodiversity
Liaison Group (BLG)
We can do it…….
• Synergies are complex but not impossible
– Programmatic synergies
• Aichi Nagoya Targets
– Implementation synergies
• Bushmeat
– Reporting synergies
• Wetlands
– Financing
• GEF, ODA….
– Approach
• NBSAPs
– Policy and decision making
• BLG
• Joint sessions of Bureaus and SBSTTA ?