NEXUS Gains at the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAP) Day at COP16

The NBSAP Day program of events facilitated in-depth discussions among policymakers, practitioners and stakeholders to address the challenges, opportunities and strategies for effective NBSAP implementation at national and local levels. Sessions covered everything from setting the context of the day, reflecting on progress since COP15, and examining how to measure progress and how to drive NBSAP implementation forward.

As part of the day, the session 'Turning NBSAPs into reality' recognized that mainstreaming nature into economic sectors, political agendas and societies is at the core of advancing NBSAP implementation. Participants in this session discussed and analyzed solutions to overcome obstacles in achieving biodiversity mainstreaming, as outlined in the Global Biodiversity Framework.

There were five breakout meetings during this session. Chris Dickens - Principal Researcher at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) - gave the opening remarks at a group discussion on agriculture and food systems. He framed the discussion around the process of NBSAP updates and implementation, and how to put into practice a whole-of-government (nexus) approach to more effectively mainstream agriculture and food systems into NBSAPs.

Water, energy, food and environmental (WEFE) security is fundamental to human survival and socio-economic development but these critical systems are increasingly under stress, with negative impacts for biodiversity and communities. WEFE nexus approaches are holistic and integrated strategies that aim to secure equitable access to water, energy and food while simultaneously protecting the environment. They emphasize systems thinking and promote integrated interventions that enhance sustainable water resource management and food systems, protect biodiversity and ensure equitable access to clean energy.

Globally, agriculture is the main driver of biodiversity loss, with freshwater biodiversity declining more rapidly than both terrestrial and marine biodiversity. For example, the fragmentation of rivers by infrastructure and the diversion of water for agricultural use, primarily irrigation, make a significant contribution to the degradation of freshwater ecosystems. Consequently, improved agricultural water management, though rarely perceived as an “environmental” intervention, is crucial for preserving biodiversity .

The discussion in the agriculture and food systems session highlighted many challenges that NBSAP participant countries are facing. Firstly, monitoring biodiversity is hard, as it is difficult to get baseline data, and therefore hard to generate realistic, achievable, science-led targets for the NBSAPs. Other challenges included social and political instability, gaps in resources, a lack of budget for implementation of the NBSAP actions, and that country-level strategies cannot be standardized.

The session indicated that countries must focus on integrated multi-sectoral efforts – like best practices from Peru, Bhutan, and Nepal, which apply whole-government approaches – as well as data sharing and long-term funding mechanisms to implement agrobiodiversity strategies and overcome challenges in food security and ecosystem sustainability.

More information: https://www.cgiar.org/news-events/news/prioritizing-water-and-nexus-thinking-at-cop16/