UEBT and CBD sign MOU to help stop biodiversity loss

Montreal, 18 August 2011 – In the context of the launching of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity, the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that seeks to contribute to the implementation of the CBD Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020.

The CBD Strategic Plan contains twenty targets designed to halt the loss of biodiversity and ensure that by 2020 ecosystems are resilient and continue to provide essential services. With this MOU, UEBT and the CBD Secretariat will work together on key issues of this strategic plan, particularly on increasing public awareness of biodiversity, promoting the engagement of the business community in biodiversity protection and putting in practice the equitable sharing of benefits that result from biodiversity use.

The MOU was signed by the CBD Executive Secretary Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf and UEBT’s Executive Director Rik Kutsch Lojenga at a signing ceremony held in Geneva, Switzerland on 18 August, 2011.

Activities under the MOU will include UEBT providing regular inputs on biodiversity awareness using its annual biodiversity awareness study, the Biodiversity Barometer. In addition, the two organisations will work together to communicate on the value of biodiversity to target groups such as the business community. The United Nations Decade on Biodiversity should prove, as did the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity, an opportunity for increased business awareness and engagement in biodiversity issues. The UEBT 2011 Biodiversity Barometer revealed that one out of three consumers surveyed had heard about the International Year of Biodiversity.

Engaging the private sector in biodiversity protection is another important element in the collaboration between the CBD Secretariat and UEBT.