CMS Family input for the scoping process of the Transformative Change Assessment

CMS Family input for the scoping process of the Transformative Change Assessment

Following IPBES webinar series on Transformative Change which was held on the 9 October 2019, the CMS Family would like to provide inputs, as follow.          

According to the Report of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services on the work of its seventh session, transformative change refers to a fundamental, system-wide change that includes consideration of technological, economic and social factors, including in terms of paradigms, goals and values.

Question: Which are the factors in human society that may be leveraged to bring about the transformative change for the conservation, restoration and wise use of biodiversity?

A first step to identify the aspects that can support a transformative change consists in analyzing and identifying the elements that have not been sufficiently implemented in the various global agendas, such as the 2030 Agenda and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity.

It has been shown that, among others, two of the general changes that might enable the achievement of several SDGs, Aichi Targets and the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity, concern the improvement of connectivity conservation and of the resulting and required international cooperation.  

 

Connectivity is key to support freshwater management (SDG 6), to maintain biodiversity and sustain people in urban spaces (SDG 11), to conserve and restore nature among and within protected areas on land and in the oceans (SDG 14 and 15), including in light of climate change (SDG 13). Because connectivity is essential to maintain biodiversity and restore overexploited ecosystems, including marine and other fragile ecosystems such as wetlands and coral reefs, it indirectly supports economic activities such as sustainable food production and fisheries. Connectivity is crucial to enhance the effectiveness of current conservation management approaches, but it has not received enough consideration until now, therefore integrating connectivity aspects into policies, targets and goals, could be one of the factors that would enable the transformative change.

Question: How can multilateral efforts to conserve biodiversity contribute to harmonizing developments of transformative change?

From a policy perspective, on a global scale, connectivity provides a means by which multiple countries can agree on shared goals beyond national plans and priorities and offers a basis for cooperation across boundaries.    



More generally, in line with SDG 17, a transformative change in the conservation of biodiversity can only be achieved with strong global partnerships and cooperation and with a truly inclusive and participative process in determining priorities and coordinating policies. Each Multilateral Environmental Agreement with its own mandate, has the responsibility to contribute to the alignment of policies, laws and actions on specific aspects of biodiversity conservation.

Question: What can migratory species contribute to de-escalating conflicts potentially linked to transformative change?

International cooperation required for the conservation of migratory species and their migration systems can create collaborative links among countries that have the potential to de-escalate conflicts in other sectors (social, economic…).

To this end, MEAs such as CMS provide a platform that can bring together nation-states to find common ground for agreements.

Question: What role can cultural values and beliefs of certain species play in transformative change? And how the transformative change can be facilitated through changing and broadening our understanding of biodiversity and in particular of wildlife values?

With reference to key gaps that are currently preventing collaborative action on a broader scale, charismatic (migratory) species (e.g. snow leopard, eagle) could be used as a carrier for promoting a transformative change, since the need for their conservation can provide moral incentives and justifications for behavioral changes with broader transformative potential. 

Wild animal species are related to the culture and belief systems of many populations: wild animals have indeed social, cultural, traditional, symbolic, spiritual and recreational implications in the life of local communities. Studying and better understanding socio-cultural values of wild species is important for two aspects: to change popular believes that result in overexploitation of species, but also to foster the interest of the communities that wish to reintroduce, protect and manage species.

At the basis of a transformative change, there may be the need of revisiting and broadening our understanding and perception of biodiversity and animal species and recognizing their rights and freedom. Behaviors that are shared by a defined wild animal community, acquired through social learning and exhibited for a certain degree of temporal stability can be defined as their culture. Social relationships among individuals of a population show us the complexity, the structure and possible predictions of that society.

Recognizing the culture and social complexity of animal societies could help modify how humans conceive and relate to other living species, supporting the transformative change in the use and conservation of biodiversity.