Biodiversity Day 2020 promotes understanding, awareness on biodiversity issues

The international community, under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity is set to Friday celebrate the 2020 International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB), focused on the need to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.

This year’s celebration is also expected to contribute towards building momentum in the lead up to the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Kunming, China, in 2020 which has been postponed in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The theme of this year’s celebration is “Our solutions are in nature” which underscores the need for the global community to re-examine its relationship with the natural world. The theme also emphasises hope, solidarity and the importance of working together at all levels to build a future of life in harmony with nature.

Indeed, despite technological advances, human survival  and all life on earth are completely dependent on healthy and vibrant ecosystems for quality health, water, food, medicines, and energy.

According to the Convention on Biodiversity, “At least 40 per cent of the world’s economy and 80 per cent of the needs of the poor are derived from biological resources. In addition, the richer the diversity of life, the greater the opportunity for medical discoveries, economic development, and adaptive responses to such new challenges as climate change”.

Similarly, the world’s rural populations, including smallholders, fisherfolk, and forest dwellers, often directly depend on nature’s resources for their subsistence and livelihoods, which illustrates biodiversity’s importance to food security and nutrition, and its contribution to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) focused on zero hunger.

Therefore the biodiversity day commemoration offers opportunities for reflections so as to arrive at solutions for increasing the resilience of nations and communities as we recover from this pandemic. However, given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, IBD 2020 will for the first time be commemorated through online-only campaign.