Looking forward: paving the way for a UN agenda for action on biodiversity Several UN-wide initiatives can help build momentum and mobilize action in support of biodiversity. At the start of the 2021-2030 decade, several high-profile events focusing on biodiversity will be convened by and/or within the UN system50. These critical global leadership events could and should be complemented by activities of the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, the UN Decade on Family Farming, the UN Decade of Action to deliver the Global Goals and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development that collectively will outline the future and help build momentum for biodiversity-related actions within the UN system and those of its partners. The year 2020 precedes the decade in which the world must «flatten the curve» of biodiversity loss, adopt transformative change and put biodiversity and the economy on a path to recovery, which is the precise intention of the post-2020 gloal biodiversity framework being negotiated under the auspices of the CBD. To succeed in this agenda, the UN needs to build political momentum to catalyse a decade of action for people, planet and climate. The decade 2021-2030 is not only the last chance to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, but is likely to indicate the pathway for the well-being of humanity as well as planetary health during the rest of the 21st century. Engaging and empowering new and existing constituencies across sectors and society will be essential. Progress in building a new relationship with nature will require building on complementary capacities from across the UN system of global entities and
50 These include the UN Ocean Conference in Portugal, the UN Summit on Biodiversity convened by the UN General Assembly, the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP-15 and the meetings of the Parties to its Protocols) in China, the UN Climate Conference (UNFCCC COP-26) in Glasgow (Scotland, UK), the UN Food Systems Summit and the UNCTAD 15th Ministerial Conference in Barbados. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, most of these have recently been postponed beyond 2020. ------- 28 -------
