Biodiversity Convention signs Memorandum of Understanding with UN-Habitat

Montreal, 26 September 2011 – The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and UN-HABITAT signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in New York last week on the margins of the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The new collaboration with UN-HABITAT will allow the Convention’s Global Partnership on Local and Sub-National Governments, Cities and other Local Authorities to expand its reach and capacity by working with the agency’s large network of municipalities in Africa and other developing regions.

According to figures from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a third of the population growth from now to 2030 will take place around large cities in Asia, Latin America and Africa. This rapid urbanization by the poorest, presents an opportunity for local authorities to come up with innovative solutions to sustainable urban development.

To address this and to stop biodiversity loss and implement the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, sustainable urban solutions need to be promoted and smart infrastructure provided.

The MOU covers a variety of projects including:

- Production and dissemination of the first global assessment on the links between urbanization and biodiversity management, the City Biodiversity Outlook
- Cooperation in joint events such as the World Urban Forum and the City Biodiversity Summits to take place at each meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (including the “Cities for Life” Summit in Hyderabad, India, 16-17 October 2012)
- Capacity-building and the subnational and local implementation of Convention’s work on biosafety, inland waters, urban agriculture, invasive alien species, communication, education and public awareness (CEPA), and climate change, and in the application of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices in urban design, planning and operations.

Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary to the Convention on Biological Diversity, said: “It is a pleasure to work with Mr. Joan Clos, who, as the former mayor of Barcelona, was a pioneer in sustainability. It is fitting for a globally renowned mayor to head the United Nations agency on cities.”

Last week, UN-HABITAT was also a signatory to an MOU that created the heads of agencies task force for the global Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.