“Be part of the Plan”

Less than two years ago, the world came together in Montreal and agreed on a global plan to improve our relationship with nature. The adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), also known as The Biodiversity Plan, in December 2022 was a truly historic step for the international community and one that is often hailed as the “Paris Agreement moment” for global biodiversity conservation.

A key objective of those that designed and ultimately adopted the plan was to make it applicable to, and implemented by, a wide range of actors. While the plan is foremost a call to action for the world’s governments and other key actors, it also specifically mentions the important role the biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) such as Ramsar, the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) play in the implementation of the plan.

For AEWA – the intergovernmental waterbird treaty already signed by over 84 countries and the European Union - all of the 4 Goals and 23 Targets of The Biodiversity Plan are highly relevant and closely in line with AEWA’s objectives. In fact, an analysis of how AEWA supports the implementation of the GBF prepared by AEWA’s Technical Committee in January 2023 shows that the GBF Targets are even more aligned with AEWA’s core objectives than was the case with the Aichi Targets, established under the previous Strategic Plan for Biodiversity.

Hence, as the Executive Secretary of AEWA, I would like to echo this year’s theme for the International Day for Biodiversity and reassure you that AEWA is already an active “Part of the Plan” and that AEWA, with the support of our Parties and partners, will continue to play an active role in implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework.