In 2020, governments from around the world will meet in Beijing, China, to adopt a new global biodiversity framework under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which will succeed the current Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets. This Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) provides a critical opportunity to create a strong, evidence-based biodiversity strategy that underpins sustainable development.

In April 2018 CCI hosted a number of high level events and workshops to feed into the development of the new global biodiversity strategy:

• An expert meeting (10-12 April) examining the evidence base required to underpin the development of the new framework. This meeting brought together key science and policy specialists involved in different aspects of developing and implementing plans and strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and in reviewing their implementation. Outputs from the expert meeting will be introduced to governments and other stakeholders at CBD-related meetings in 2018 and subsequent years, as governments negotiate a post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Organisation of the expert meeting was led by the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, IUCN, BirdLife International, the RSPB and academics from the University of Cambridge, along with representatives from Defra, JNCC, WWF-UK and ZSL, and in discussion with the CBD Secretariat. We are grateful to UN Environment, Defra, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, JNCC, RSPB and the CCI Collaborative Fund for providing financial support.
• A public panel discussion, entitled “Setting a new post-2020 biodiversity agenda – the communications challenge” looked back at the expert meeting and investigated how to transform the complexity of biodiversity and the need to protect our natural world into effective messages to target and mobilise key audiences such as business, government, economics and the biodiversity conservation community itself. During the discussion we asked what narratives work or don’t work for each of these sectors. This public panel discussion provided a unique opportunity to hear from those at the forefront of international biodiversity policy development, as well as to gain insights from leaders in various sectors. A recording of the discussion is available to view online.
• A communications workshop on 13 April, entitled “Many Voices – One Nature” brought together a range of communications experts, journalists and key figures from across various media organisations, NGOs, IGOs and the private sector to investigate the elements necessary for a biodiversity communication strategy. Convened by the CBD Secretariat and hosted by CCI, this meeting is the first in a series of dialogues and aims to catalyse the development of a roadmap for communication activities in the lead up to 2020.

Science-Policy Challenges in Polar Conservation and Management: A workshop series co-convened by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) in 2017-18