Cities for Life: City and Subnational Biodiversity Summit 15-16 October 2012 Hyderabad, India

 

Cities for Life: City and Subnational Biodiversity Summit 15-16 October 2012 Hyderabad, India

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international treaty with three main goals: conservation of biodiversity; sustainable use of biodiversity; and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. Its overall objective is to encourage actions which will lead to a sustainable future. To date, there are 193 Parties to the Convention (192 countries and the European Union) including India. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the governing body of the Convention and advances implementation of the Convention through the decisions it takes at periodic meetings. The 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP11) is being hosted by the Government of India in the City of Hyderabad from 8 to 19 October 2012.

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and the CBD Secretariat will partner with the Government of India, the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to organize the Cities for Life: City and Subnational Biodiversity Summit on 15 and 16 October 2012. The Summit will be held in parallel to CBD COP 11 and convene local authorities in support of the implementation of the Convention. The Cities for Life Summit will constitute the third gathering of its kind, but the first to take place directly adjacent to the COP negotiations, in the Hyderabad International Convention Centre.

It is anticipated that the Cities for Life Summit will bring together approximately 300 mayors, governors, high-ranking officials and their representative networks, as well as national governments, international organizations, UN agencies and specialists from across the world.

Summit Aims

The Summit aims to: • review the implementation of COP decision X/22 and the associated Plan of Action on Sub-national Governments, Cities and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity, taking stock of the main programs that have emerged as a result of, or in support of, the Plan of Action including ICLEI’s BiodiverCities Program;

• coordinate future implementation of the Plan of Action through various programs and to launch important initiatives such as the Cities and Biodiversity Outlook publication and Cities in Biodiversity Hotspots Program;

• contribute to COP 11 through a show of local level support for Parties’ implementation of the CBD including a possible speaking opportunity for local and/or regional government at its high level segment; and through support for a COP Decision to complement and build on existing cities and biodiversity COP Decisions;

• facilitate awareness, and thereby consensus, on positions among political leaders at the local level on biodiversity management and CBD implementation, expressed in a declaration characterizing the Summit and advancing the Aichi/Nagoya Declaration on Local Authorities and Biodiversity;

• and provide a platform for the exchange of local government expertise and experiences.