Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16) - Trade Day

Your Excellency, Mr. Luis Carlos Reyes, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia,

Dear Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP,

Dear Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity,

Dear Ulla Kask, Counsellor at the WTO,

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

I first want to thank all our partners that joined UN Trade and Development in co-organizing the first ever Trade Day of the COP to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The importance of biodiversity for human well-being cannot be overstated.

More than half of the world’s population - over 4.3 billion people - rely on biodiversity for their livelihoods. For the poor and vulnerable living in rural areas, it is particularly important as about 70 per cent of them depend directly on biodiversity. And more than half of the global gross domestic product relies on biodiversity and healthy ecosystems.

While the evidence of its importance is overwhelming, the evidence is equally overwhelming that biodiversity is at risk. One million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction within the next decades.

The Pact of the Future adopted by the international community in September reminds us of the extent to which we need to change our models and embark on a more inclusive and environmentally responsible path. Action 10 of the pact calls for accelerating efforts to restore, protect, conserve and sustainably use the environment, and notes the importance of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The urgency cannot be overstated, as Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan said: “Biodiversity, the fabric of life on Earth, is declining at an alarming rate. The cost of inaction is staggering. The gravity of this biodiversity crisis demands immediate action.”

With this Trade Day, we have an important opportunity to reflect on the interlinkages between trade and biodiversity, and especially on the role of trade as a positive force for biodiversity, sustainable livelihood, and other sustainable development goals.

By embedding the environmental dimensions of sustainable development into trade and trade policies, we can minimize the trade-offs between economic growth and environmental degradation. We need to be at “Peace with Nature”.

I want to emphasize three points with respect to trade and biodiversity:

The first point is that trade of biodiversity-based products is very important. According to our latest available data for 2021, such trade accounted for 17 per cent of global trade, amounting to 3.4 trillion US dollars.

My second point is that the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – the KMGBF - recognizes the need for a whole-of-society approach with Target 5 of the framework specifically relating to trade. The target calls to Ensure Sustainable, Safe and Legal Harvesting and Trade of Wild Species. But trade has a broader role as it can support all goals of the Framework’s by incentivizing social economic benefits, sustainable production, consumption and trade.

What is important is that the framework provides a framework for action. UN Trade and Development is ready to support member States in implementing their KMGBF commitments and to collaborate with all relevant partners, especially the Secretariats of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the WTO, as well as UNEP.

With my third point I want to provide you three concrete examples of how we are supporting developing countries in this area of work.

The first example is the BioTrade Initiative: Launched in 1996, this initiative promotes trade and investment in biodiversity to further sustainable development.

We developed BioTrade Principles and Criteria. These are a set of guidelines for the sourcing, processing and commercialization of biodiversity-based goods and services. They support governments and companies in conducting biodiversity-friendly trade while contributing to the achievement of the SDGs and multilateral environmental agreements.

Voluntary Sustainability Standards are crucial for supporting the implementation of BioTrade in developing countries as they help improve market access.

I want to share some concrete results:

The initiative has supported sustainable trade, conservation of biodiversity and livelihoods in more than 80 countries.

The BioTrade turnover has been growing steeply. Between 2003 and 2023, BioTrade-compliant companies and associations went from a turnover of 40 million to nearly 40 billion US dollars. With growing consumer preference for biodiversity-friendly products and services, this market is expected to further grow.

I take this opportunity to thank the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO for their longstanding support to our BioTrade Initiative.

The second example is our work on using the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection for safeguarding biodiversity. These guidelines, of which UN Trade and Development is the guardian, set out principles on consumer health and safety to ensure that ecosystems are preserved for future generations. The guidelines offer a means to support behavioural change with respect to consumption of biodiversity-friendly products. We are working with consumer protection agencies and biodiversity entities to use that potential, strengthen collaboration and raise awareness of relevant multilateral agreements.  

The last example is our collaboration with UNEP and FAO. We developed a Joint Plan of Action towards supporting the sustainable use and conservation of our marine biodiversity realm and achieve the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Looking ahead, the success of sustainable trade will depend on multi-stakeholder collaboration. The multilateral arena is crucial for mainstreaming biodiversity into global trade practices.  We must work together to develop, adopt, and implement trade policies that support biodiversity while fostering sustainable economic development.

The COP16 Trade Day offers a momentum for advancing this agenda.

I thank you for your attention.