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The international policy framework

The global context

Global biodiversity policy is shaped by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. This conference was held in Rio, Brazil in 1992 and is often referred to as either the "Rio Conference" or the "Earth Summit external site ".

The Earth Summit resulted in the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity external site by 168 Parties.  There are three broad objectives:

  • the conservation of biological diversity
  • the sustainable use of its components
  • the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

The United Kingdom and Northern Ireland embraced the recommendations of the Earth Summit by publishing its United Kingdom Biodiversity Action Plan external site in 1994.

Following The Earth Summit there have been ten international "Conferences of the Parties".   The most recent conference took place in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010.  A Strategic Plan for biodiversity for the period 2011-2020 external site   was adopted, including twenty "Aichi Biodiversity Targets external site ". 

The United Nations has declared 2011-2020 to be the "international decade on biodiversity external site ".

The European Union context

Informed by the conference in Nagyoya, European Commissioners tabled on 3rd May 2011 an updated EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy external site . Titled "Our Life Insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020", the strategy includes six priority targets and twenty associated actions which address the main drivers of biodiversity loss.

In summary form, the six targets are:

  • Habitat and species assessments are improved between now and 2020.
  • By 2020, ecosystems and their services are maintained and enhanced by establishing green infrastructure and restoring at least 15% of degraded ecosystems
  • Ensure uptake of agricultural funding to improve status of species dependant upon agriculture and to ensure that public owned and private woodland (above a certain size) are managed according to plans to improve the conservation status of habitats and species.
  • Safeguarding and protecting EU fish stocks to achieve the maximum sustainable yield by 2015.
  • By 2020, Invasive Alien Species and their pathways are identified and prioritised, priority species are controlled or eradicated, and pathways are managed to prevent the introduction and establishment of new IAS.
  • By 2020, the EU has stepped up its contribution to averting global biodiversity loss.