The Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development (nrg4SD), together with the Government of Azuay and the Consortium of Ecuadorian Provincial Governments (CONGOPE), with the support of the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador, held the International Conference on Biodiversity “A Territorial Rights-based Approach to Biodiversity” on 21 and 22 June in Cuenca, Ecuador.
The event gathered regional and local authorities, as well as experts, academia, community leaders and other stakeholders from all over the world to discuss and exchange on how subnational governments pave the way to the 2020 Agenda and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (ABT).
The event was held alongside the nrg4SD 2018 General Assembly meeting and in the context of the 25th anniversary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as well as the CBD COP 14, to be held in November in Egypt. The Conference served to strengthening alliances, exchange experiences, promote multilevel coordination and public policies at all levels. The program included an integrated perspective of biodiversity, with linkages to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, namely SDG 15, but also tackling poverty, hunger and climate change, as well as the role of women and indigenous peoples in biodiversity conservation.
The Conference represented an important step towards the CBD COP 14, especially with regards to those mainstreaming topics that fall under the competencies of regional governments in decentralized countries. Building upon the conclusions of the Conference, the nrg4SD will create a position paper to sum up efforts towards the global challenges to be addressed next November.