Background

In support of the 194 signatory Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in fulfilling their commitment with the Convention and, in particular, the implementation of the Aichi Targets, the Biodiversity Summit for City and Subnational Governments 2014 will be convened in parallel with the twelfth meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP12) in Gangwon Province, South Korea, 15-16 October 2014.

The Cities for Life Summit is organized by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and the Secretariat of the CBD in partnership with the Government of South Korea, the Provincial Government of Gangwon and the Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development (nrg4SD). the Biodiversity Summit 2014 provides a unique opportunity to bring local, subnational national governments together to share ideas, engage with experts, and strengthen multi-level cooperation to implement the CBD and Aichi Targets, with a view to enhancing management of biodiversity and safeguarding the ecosystem services upon which we so heavily depend.
We welcome you to explore this website and register for this innovative and exciting side event.


Biodiversity Summit for Cities & Subnational Governments 2014

Date
  • 12-14 October 2014
Venue
  • Alpensia Convention Center 2F, PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, Republic of Korea

This year the theme for the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 12) is “Biodiversity for Sustainable Development”. In line with that, the Cities for Life: City and Subnational Biodiversity Summit, the biggest event held in parallel with the CBD COP, will incorporate this theme as well. The focus at this Biodiversity Summit is on cooperation and coordination between levels of government, capitalizing on the significant break-throughs that have been made at the last three CBD COPs. The Biodiversity Summit program includes speakers from all levels of government in an interactive dialogue, with panels combining local, subnational and national government representatives as well as international organisations.

A draft of the Gangwon/Pyeongchang Declaration, as a primary outcome of the Biodiversity Summit (traditionally named after the host subnational government), will be compiled with the input of as many local and subnational governments around the world as possible, and finalised through input at the Summit itself. This process of engagement will begin soon, so look out for upcoming invitations and opportunities to comment and contribute!

The Biodiversity Summit will take place on 12-14 October 2014, just before the High-Level Segment at the CBD COP from October 15th to 17th.

Among other things, the Summit will take stock of progress since the previous “Cities for Life Summit” at the CBD COP 11 in Hyderabad, India, outline the latest tools, initiatives and networks, illustrating throughout, the value of bringing nature back into cities; and forge further concrete action points for national, subnational and local governments, international development organisations, and the scientific community for implementing the Plan of Action.