Switzerland's activities

Switzerland wants to continue its work in the area of biodiversity to ensure that the various biodiversity-related agreements are implemented. This involves strengthening synergies and ensuring that the implementation of these agreements, the related international instruments and the financing mechanism are coherent.

Biodiversity is an international issue and a global good that cannot be protected and preserved by one country alone. Switzerland is therefore a strong advocate of international regulations to protect and use biodiversity sustainably. It takes an active part in the various international mechanisms for protecting and promoting biodiversity, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (see International Agreements).

Switzerland supports the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which was established in 2012. IPBES assumes a central mediation role between science and politics. It informs national and international policy-makers about the state of biodiversity and the changes that are occurring, and makes recommendations for action. In 2019, IPBES drew up a global report (Global Assessment) and various regional reports. Switzerland helped to draw up the regional report for Europe and Central Asia. The technical lead was assumed by the University of Bern. IPBES has also published subject reports on pollinators, invasive alien species and land degradation and restoration. Its Nexus Assessment Report reveals the deep interconnections between biodiversity, energy, water, health and climate, and demonstrates ways of tacking the challenges. IPBES reports form the scientific basis for negotiations in biodiversity-related agreements.

Switzerland supports initiatives that lead to greater consideration of biodiversity in the infrastructure plans of developing countries and advocates in multilateral panels and funds, particularly in the Global Environment Facility (GEF), for more ample funding for the protection of biological diversity.

Switzerland promotes the implementation of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by all relevant actors. In negotiations, it successfully advocated for priorities such as a clear and concise target framework with measurable targets and indicators that address the most important global causes of biodiversity loss, a framework that applies to the entire international biodiversity regime and strengthens and leverages synergies between different conventions and processes, and an effective implementation mechanism that allows the success of measures to be assessed and lessons to be learned.