Please download:  the Cancun declaration on mainstreaming the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity for well-being

Cancun, Mexico, 3rd December 2016, 3 pm. We, the ministers and other heads of delegation, having met on the occasion of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, Cancun, Mexico, 2016,1 on 2 and 3 December 2016,

Declare that:…

It is essential to live in harmony with nature, recognized by some cultures as Mother Earth, as a fundamental condition for the well-being of all life, which depends on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and the ecosystem services it underpins.

Biodiversity offers solutions to the pressing development and societal challenges that the world community is currently facing.

We are most concerned by the negative impacts on biodiversity caused by degradation and fragmentation of ecosystems, unsustainable land use changes, overexploitation of natural resources, illegal harvesting and trade of species, introduction of invasive alien species, pollution of air, soil, inland waters and oceans, climate change and desertification.

It is necessary to change human development patterns, behaviours, and activities to respect nature.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals, which strongly reflect biodiversity, provide new opportunities to address development challenges in a transformative manner and with a perspective that integrates environmental, economic and social dimensions.

Implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Paris Agreement, adopted at the twenty-first session of its Conference of the Parties, which notes the importance of ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems and the protection of biodiversity when taking action to address climate change, as well as of the Marrakech Action Proclamation adopted in November 2016 at the twenty-second session, can and should also contribute to the implementation of the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and vice versa.

Please download the Cancun declaration here below: