GEF and CBD join forces to raise awareness for the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity

The Global Environment Facility, the largest multilateral donor protecting global biodiversity and a pioneer in supporting innovative tools and mechanisms to ensure sustainable conservation, will join forces with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to spur binding action by decision-makers to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity, stop species loss, and maintain vital ecosystem goods and services.

The GEF Council approved this week a special initiative designed to build global awareness and catalyze decisive action during the upcoming 2010 International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). Declared by the United Nations General Assembly, the International Year of Biodiversity is an opportunity for the global community to greatly expand awareness about the impeding biodiversity crisis and its crucial role in people's well-being. The IYB will also serve to reflect on our challenges as well as on the achievements to date to save it, and hopefully redouble our efforts to reduce the rate of its loss. As the financial mechanism supporting the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the GEF will work with its multitude of partners, including the private sector and civil society to increase global recognition about biodiversity and the need to harness unprecedented support and financial resources.

“What we do now could well be the tipping point to finally galvanize a critical mass of decision makers across all sectors needed for harnessing decisive action to reduce and halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services globally,” said Monique Barbut, CEO and Chairperson of the GEF.

During the IYB, the GEF, in partnership with the CBD and other partners, will ensure that a series of strategically planned forums and events delve deep into the most promising solutions to promote biodiversity conservation and its sustainable use. The internet will also constitute a prime medium for the discussion, mobilization and outreach initiatives, also encouraging the participation of civil society organizations, and indigenous and local communities. The initiative will also target the private sector for its ingenuity and transformative power, looking for new ways to bring sustainably produced goods and services into the mainstream of the market. Finally, the IYB will engage with some of the best minds in the field of communications to help customize the key messages on the plight of biodiversity to the appropriate sectors.

“We look forward to working with the GEF which has an excellent track record of conserving biodiversity, promoting sustainable use, and catalyzing private investment in the developing world with a wide range of partners to promote innovative solutions to reduce the threats to biodiversity,” said Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. “Our collaboration comes at a critical time as the year will be the beginning of the dialogue on stakeholders on the steps and targets to be set in a post-2010 world.”

"We welcome this initiative as an important milestone on the road to Nagoya, Japan, where the CBD 10th Conference of the Parties of the CBD will be held in 2010. We also look forward to working with the GEF and CBD to showcase this event during the IYB," said Hiroshi Takami, Director for Development Issues, Japan Ministry of Finance and a GEF Council member. “The celebration of the IYB and CBD COP10 in 2010 provides an excellent opportunity to raise global awareness on the ongoing global efforts to stop species loss and maintain ecosystem services that provide food, water, and materials to human societies."

Under the terms of the Convention, parties have pledged to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth.