On 21 June it was announced that the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) COP 15 – the UN global biodiversity conference – will no longer be held in China, instead taking place in Montreal, Canada from 5–17 December 2022. China will continue to preside over the meetings.
After several delays to the original October 2020 date, the new dates give more certainty on the progression of targets to halt the global deterioration of biodiversity.
From 21–26 June in Nairobi, work continued on the CBD’s Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework, which will include a set of around 21 biodiversity targets for parties to the convention (including the UK). Target 15 is specifically aimed at business and is the first CBD target specifically recognising business’s role in reducing impacts on biodiversity.
IEMA has been working with the UK Business and Biodiversity Forum (UKBBF) to create a position on Target 15 as it develops, as well as liaising with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) through workshops. There were a number of drafts of Target 15 before the Nairobi meeting, and the latest (as yet unagreed) has recently been posted online at bit.ly/CBD_Target15
In further news, we are delighted that IEMA has been accepted as a Forum member of the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD). The TNFD’s risk management framework is being developed through a series of iterations leading up to final publication in September 2023, with each draft being improved by industry feedback.
The second iteration, beta version 0.2 (bit.ly/TNFD_betav2), was published on 28 June. Core components have not changed but updates have been made based on feedback so far. These updates include an architecture for metrics and targets; draft guidance on, and an illustrative set of, assessment metrics; and additional guidance and approaches by sector or biome.
The TNFD is requesting that businesses pilot the beta version 0.2 between now and June 2023. IEMA has been working with the UKBBF and IEMA corporate members to create a working group offering a ‘safe space’ for businesses that wish to do this. If your business is interested in, or has already started, piloting the TNFD framework and would like to join the working group, contact [email protected]
