Browsing by Subject "Convention on Biological Diversity"

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    'Balancing Biodiversity': A Global Instrument for Meeting the 2010 Biodiversity Target
    (2008-04-25T17:45:57Z) Peterson, Annah; Hill, Chloe; Gallagher, Louise
    Radically heightened extinction rates over the past 50 years have prompted the Convention on Biological Diversity to adopt the ‘2010 biodiversity target,’ which aims to significantly reduce global biodiversity loss by 2010. Despite the establishment of this ambitious goal, few policies have proven to be able to ensure its achievement. This paper explores the potential for biodiversity conservation policies to be developed on a global scale, with special emphasis on incentive-based instruments to curb biodiversity loss. By far, the primary cause of biodiversity loss is habitat destruction resulting from land-use change. Land-use change, however, occurs over a variety of spatial scales, making it difficult to utilise incentives in order to target the major actors engaging in land-use change activities. Specifically, land-use change is driven globally by international developers selling products for export, as well as locally by actors altering land to meet subsistence needs. In light of these two groups, the paper discusses the need for a two-pronged incentive system, which creates incentives for both international actors engaging in high-return development activities, particularly those from the private sector, and local actors engaging in lower-return subsistence activities. It then examines the potential for creating this two-prong incentive structure through the development of a global system of biodiversity offsets, referred to as ‘balancing biodiversity’. The paper concludes by establishing rudimentary guidelines for the implementation of such a system with the hope of initiating discussion over global instruments for meeting the 2010 target.
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    BioTools: Developing and Investing in Biodiversity Responsible Business
    (2010-09-03) Sater, Mary
    The objective for these tools is to encourage the conservation of biodiversity through private sector investment in biodiversity business. The tools seek to enable both investors and business developers to create viable business models that are biodiversity responsible, either through the use and consumption of biodiversity within the space that the project occupies or through the responsible management of biodiversity within the project space. The long-term objective of the Tools is to harness private capital to create green ventures that achieve the objectives of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. To develop the BioTools, a review of academic business and scientific literature was conducted, as well as a review of current developments in the grey literature of international policy organizations. These sources provided background on the current efforts to conserve biodiversity, the juncture between business and policy to conserve biodiversity, and tools for all facets of business operations. During the development of the tools, both business frameworks and applications to environmental problems were researched and adopted and modified to fulfill the objectives of BioTool development. The Convention on Biological Diversity has three objectives in its mandate: the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use, and equitable sharing of benefits. Within the work program the Convention has identified businesses as a key constituency to aid the goal of slowing the loss of biodiversity. Given these tools, businesses and investors can develop and invest in projects that seek to employ biodiversity resources in a sustainable and equitable fashion.
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    The Justice Gap in Global Forest Governance
    (2014) Marion Suiseeya, Kimberly Ruggles

    Claims of injustice in global forest governance are prolific: assertions of colonization, marginalization and disenfranchisement of forest-dependent people, and privatization of common resources are some of the most severe allegations of injustice resulting from globally-driven forest conservation initiatives. At its core, the debate over the future of the world's forests is fraught with ethical concerns. Policy makers are not only deciding how forests should be governed, but also who will be winners, losers, and who should have a voice in the decision-making processes. For 30 years, policy makers have sought to redress the concerns of the world's 1.6 billion forest-dependent poor by introducing rights-based and participatory approaches to conservation. Despite these efforts, however, claims of injustice persist. This research examines possible explanations for continued claims of injustice by asking: What are the barriers to delivering justice to forest-dependent communities? Using data collected through surveys, interviews, and collaborative event ethnography in Laos and at the Tenth Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, this dissertation examines the pursuit of justice in global forest governance across multiple scales of governance. The findings reveal that particular conceptualizations of justice have become a central part of the metanormative fabric of global environmental governance, inhibiting institutional evolution and therewith perpetuating the justice gap in global forest governance.