Unternavigation

Biodiversity: International Affairs

Biodiversity is essential for human life. Our ecosystems provide the source for our food, regulate our climate and provide clean air and water, which is why it is vital they remain diverse and healthy. Yet their condition has significantly deteriorated in recent decades, both globally and in Switzerland. To preserve biodiversity – and hence our ecosystems – action is needed at local, regional and global level.

Switzerland is actively involved in international efforts to conserve biodiversity. It is committed to the successful implementation of biodiversity-related agreements at global and regional level and supports international initiatives for the promotion, sustainable use and monitoring of biodiversity.

The efforts of international biodiversity-related conventions and processes are currently focused on implementing the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its global biodiversity targets by 2030. The global framework was adopted in December 2022 at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

International Agreements

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was established on the occasion of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, and the global Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 are important supplementary agreements which have been adopted under the umbrella of the CBD.

Switzerland's activities

Switzerland would like to continue its commitment to the area of biodiversity to ensure that the various biodiversity-related agreements are effectively implemented. This involves strengthening synergies and ensuring the coherent design of the implementation of the CBD and its international instruments and finance mechanism.

IPBES

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), also known as the World Biodiversity Council, is a scientific body set up in 2012 by the United Nations. IPBES’s objective is to provide decision-makers and civil society with well-founded scientific information about the state and development of biodiversity and its ecosystem services.