International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress Partnership Pavilion Session on Equity and Rights: Vision and Gaps in the Global Biodiversity Framework

Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

5 September 2021

Thank you for the opportunity to speak on this important topic.

The catastrophic impacts of human action on all life on this planet are undeniable.

One million species are at risk of extinction. Two thirds of ocean ecosystems are at risk.  More than 85 per cent of the planet’s wetlands have been destroyed. Hundreds of  millions of hectares of forest have been lost.

Biodiversity and ecosystem loss at this scale has potentially devastating impacts on fundamental human rights – including the rights to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment; to adequate food, water and housing; to health; to development; and to life itself.

Human rights harms caused by nature loss are compounded by the interlocked crises of climate change and pollution. They are further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has cast a very clear and painful spotlight on our dependence on a healthy environment – while also undermining our ability to protect it.

These interlinked crises are driving inequality and human suffering on a massive scale, and those impacts will increase. They affect most those who are already in vulnerable situations.

Addressing these crises and the inequities they perpetuate demands transformative change for nature and people. This is a human rights imperative.

The first draft of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework highlights the need to reimagine humanity’s relationship with nature. It calls for a world in which all people live in harmony with nature. Its theory of change and enabling conditions call for implementation of the Framework through rights-based approaches.

To survive and thrive on our planet, we must take these commitments seriously. Human rights need to be meaningfully reflected throughout the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework – extending well beyond its theory of change and enabling conditions, to integrate human rights  into its vision, mission, goals and targets.

Human rights must also be integrated into the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans that will drive national implementation of these commitments.

The UN common approach to biodiversity offers detailed guidance in this respect.

It starts by calling for human rights to be protected, including the human right to a healthy environment.

It emphasizes the importance of protecting those in vulnerable situations, and the need to ensure participation, access to information and access to justice for all. It calls for protection of environmental human rights defenders. It makes clearly explicit the links between biological diversity and respect for the diversity of peoples and cultures. And it encourages action to enhance lifelong learning on environmental issues and stewardship.

The UN common approach offers a vision for biodiversity action that will be more fair and more effective because it is grounded in human rights.

The first draft of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework takes a significant first step toward that vision by calling for a rights-based approach. But more remains to be done, to ensure this key approach is reflected throughout the text including in the vision of the Framework itself.

We need to see an explicit commitment to ensuring that all action under the Framework is consistent with human rights obligations.

We need additional and strengthened language that clearly addresses the human rights responsibilities of businesses; the need to protect environmental human rights defenders; and the essential nature of the broadest possible public participation in all decisions.

This important, life-changing text must emphasise people's rights to information and justice.

It should present strong, clear commitments to the rights of future generations, gender equality and the rights of indigenous peoples,  ensuring recognition of rights over lands, resources, and territories, particularly for persons and groups in vulnerable situations..  

Moreover, if we are to achieve the Framework’s vision of transformative change for nature and people, we will need to see stronger mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability.

I am proud to support this vision. And I applaud the work that is done by so many others who also seek to advance a rights-based approach to biodiversity action.

Thank you.