Nature-based Solutions: How to avoid land grabbing in the name of biodiversity?

When:

Tuesday 12 October, 13:00 – 17:00 (Brussels - CET).

Interpretation in English, French, Russian and Spanish

Background:

• With Members of the European Parliament Michèle Rivasi, Maria Soraya Rodriguez Ramos, and Marc Tarabella
• And NGOs Docip, Fern and Transparency International

The concept of "Nature-based Solutions" (NbS) has been used since 2009 in the framework of the UN climate negotiations and has also been used in recent years by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These solutions are defined by the IUCN as "actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits".

In EU legislation too, the European Commission is increasingly referring to NbS, notably in the Communications on the Green Deal for Europe and the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, as well as in a draft delegated act on the Taxonomy Regulation.

Held in advance of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 15), and the 2021 United Nations climate change conference (COP26), the aim of this event is to highlight civil society's concerns about the specific use of NbS, notably for carbon or biodiversity offsetting. Such measures can have significant negative environmental and social consequences and can even hinder or undermine the global fight against the climate crisis. 

Many environmental and social concerns need to be addressed when working on NbS: offsetting could enable continued pollution; the availability of large volumes of low-cost carbon credits from NbS projects can dilute the ambition of companies and governments to reduce their own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; NbS offsets can be misused for greenwashing, while continuing the status quo; measurement errors could overestimate reduced emissions; land use could prioritise emission reductions/removals (e.g. large-scale, non-native, monoculture plantations), thereby having a negative impact on biodiversity, food and water security and the provision of other ecosystem goods and services, especially for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

This conference provided an opportunity to answer the following questions:

• How does the Convention on Biological Diversity intend to address civil society's and Indigenous Peoples and local communities concerns about the so-called "fortress conservation" approach, including the setting of non-inclusive targets? 
• Could NbS sanction the destruction of biodiversity as long as there are attempts to compensate elsewhere, in breach of rights and science?
• Are international financial flows and private funding the most appropriate tools to foster biodiversity conservation in developing countries? 
• Ahead of COP15 and COP26, is it desirable to agree on a clear and transparent framework on the use of NbS in the fight against climate change?
   

Watch the video recording of the event here:

Categorías: Forest governance, Events