Federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen at the international ministerial forum on biodiversity in Geneva
Today, Federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen participated in an international meeting on biodiversity in Geneva (Switzerland). Switzerland invited ministers representing the former and upcoming presidencies of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to an informal meeting. "I am pleased that during our presidency it has been possible to bring together all presidents of the CBD for the first time, thus highlighting their special responsibility for the global protection of biodiversity", said Minister Röttgen.
The participants agreed on the Geneva Ministerial Biodiversity Call for Immediate Action, in which they affirmed the key role of biodiversity and its services for humans and called for a trend reversal in international biodiversity policies. The declaration calls upon heads of state and government, who will meet at the high-level meeting of the General Assembly as a contribution to the International Year of Biodiversity on 22 September of this year, to send a clear signal to the delegates of the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD in Japan this October.
At this conference, decisions on a new global biodiversity target, an international biodiversity strategy for the following ten years and a protocol on access and benefit-sharing are on the agenda.
"We need political leadership and the willingness to take action at the highest political level in order to reverse the trend and successfully combat global biodiversity loss", Minister Röttgen emphasised.