The Diffusion of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and Its Aichi Biodiversity Targets within the Biodiversity Cluster: An Illustration of Current Trends in the Global Governance of Biodiversity and Ecosystems

Abstract

2010 left observers with doubts and uncertainties concerning the preservation of biodiversity and ecosystems on a global scale.1 The 2010 objective for biodiversity2 had not been met, and this situation was recognized with alarm by the whole international community.3 As officially stated by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), swift actions had to be taken in order to tackle the massive erosion of biodiversity that had been underlined by so many experts.4 That same year, the CBD Conference of the Parties (COP), which was held in Nagoya, issued several decisions reflecting the international community’s attempt to establish the necessary framework to halt the decline of world biodiversity.5 Among those decisions, a new strategic plan for the coming decade was adopted: the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–20 (SPB) and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.6 This new strategic plan goes further than its predecessor in several different ways. First, its architecture is far more developed than the previous plan’s. With a carefully explained rationale, the new plan introduces five strategic goals (from A to E) and twenty ‘Aichi Biodiversity Targets’ distributed among these strategic goals. For example, under Strategic Goal A: Addressing the Underlying Causes of Biodiversity Loss by Mainstreaming Biodiversity across Government and Society, one finds four different Aichi targets among which Target no. 1 states: ‘By 2020, at the latest, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably.’ Compared to the previous plan, this one focuses more on the role and place of human beings within their environment. Second, the members of the CBD did not simply state a new plan but also added sections related to the implementation and support of the different goals and objectives.7 The failure to meet the 2010 objective increased awareness of what was needed to see the new strategic plan succeed.