WCS joins leading conservation organizations in expressing great concern that the UN Convention on Biological Diversity discussions in Nairobi showed insufficient leadership and little progress to avert the world’s biodiversity crisis.

In a joint statement, the organizations said: “Progress during this last round of negotiations before COP15 has been painfully slow, across the whole framework. There is still a massive gap between what we need in order to transition from a nature negative to a nature-positive economy, and the inconclusive and woefully inadequate text currently on the table.” The statement was delivered at the talks in Nairobi on behalf of WCS, BirdLife International, Campaign for Nature, Conservation International, International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Nature Conservancy, and WWF.

Said Susan Lieberman, WCS Vice President, International Policy: “The framework’s negotiations in Nairobi missed the mark for biodiversity.

“The post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is a once in a decade—or even a once in a lifetime—chance to transform and change our fractured relationship with nature. These discussions could have been a major step forward toward that goal, but the world did not get what was needed in the talks. Although many governments showed great ambition and commitment to action or conservation, others did not. It is shameful to see the incremental progress (and in some cases, total lack of progress). Biodiversity cannot wait.

“The science is clear, there must be strong commitments to a protecting and retaining the world’s high integrity ecosystems including forests and coral reefs, conserving and protecting up to 30 percent of our planet’s land, inland waters, and ocean by 2030, and eliminating uses of wildlife that are unsustainable, illegal, or risk the spillover of pathogens to people, wildlife, or other animals, among others. We still await agreement on those necessary commitments.

“Future generations will either praise or condemn those governments that will come together at the CBD Conference of the Parties in Montreal in December 2022. Governments in Nairobi did not meet the challenge.”

Additionally, see an open letter from Campaign for Nature; Gaia Amazonas; AVAAZ; The Nature Conservancy; ClientEarth and WCS.

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WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in nearly 60 nations and in all the world’s oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit: newsroom.wcs.org Follow: @WCSNewsroom. For more information: 347-840-1242. Listen to the WCS Wild Audio podcast HERE.