Webinars on supporting the implementation of the post-2020 Global Monitoring Framework: Joining forces for monitoring biodiversity

The first two of a series of webinars supporting the implementation of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) took place virtually on 28 June for the Africa, Europe, North America and Caribbean, and 30 June for the Asia-Pacific region. The webinar series is designed to bring together national statistical offices with the biodiversity community and other stakeholders of the GBF to support implementation of the monitoring framework. A record number of participants attended across the first two sessions, with over 300 from national statistics office, Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), officials from government ministries and experts in the biological science and other relevant stakeholders taking part. The webinar for the Latin America region will be held on 8 July.

Currently, the GBF monitoring framework is being developed for adoption at the Convention of Parties of the CBD in October 2021, in Kunming. The monitoring framework proposal for the GBF consists of indicators (i.e. Headline, Component and Detailed Indicators) for monitoring different goals and targets. The webinar presented opportunities for supporting the implementation of the GBF monitoring framework considering the recent adoption of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting – Ecosystem Accounting  (SEEA Ecosystem Accounting) and the development of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV) and Biodiversity Observation Networks (BONs) from the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON).

The webinar stressed the opportunity provided by GBF to: 1) reinforce coordination and collaboration between all stakeholders for monitoring biodiversity and tracking progress in an integrated, reliable and transparent way; 2) build a multi-stakeholder monitoring framework, using existing frameworks such as the SEEA as an organizing framework, to link biodiversity, climate change and land degradation; 3) strengthen synergies between international organizations and national partners to work together, build capacity and organize the landscape of indicators and tools; and 4) use the monitoring framework to create a process by which national innovation is transferred.

The webinar series are jointly organized by the CBD Secretariat, the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), GEO BON, and United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) in collaboration with the UN Regional Commissions. Following the regional webinars, a series of technical webinars will be organized to provide a deep dive into selected headline indicators for the monitoring framework.

 

More information about the webinars and the forthcoming technical webinars can be found on the meeting page.