A UN Glossary
By Alyssa Ng
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National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAP): A document outlining national strategies, plans or programs a nation-state plans to take to achieve the goals set by the convention. Nation-states who have ratified the convention are obligated to develop a NBSAP in accordance with Article 6 of the Convention.
Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF): The text negotiated and adopted during CBD COP-15 in Montreal. It establishes four goals and 23 targets to stop ecosystem loss and promote ecosystem restoration by 2030. It is also known as the Post-2020 GBF and the Kunming-Montreal GBF.
Ecosystem Services: Direct and indirect benefits provided by healthy ecosystems to humans. They can provide provisioning services, regulating services, cultural services and supporting services. Many critique this definitional approach, arguing that defining the rhythms and cycles of nature as “services” relegates nature into anthropomorphic and capitalistic categories that allow for exploitation and extraction.
Biodiversity Offsets: A financing instrument that compensates for negative impacts on biodiversity in one location by financially supporting a conservation or restoration project in another location. Although it could prevent a net biodiversity loss, there are widespread concerns about technical and ethical aspects, like double-counting and additionality.
Conference of the Parties (COP): The governing body of a UN convention that hosts meetings that bring together government officials, NGOs, businesses, and other civil society organizations to implement the objectives of the convention. These meetings provide an opportunity for nation-states who have ratified the convention to monitor and report on progress in addition to establishing new goals.
Ecosystem Approach: A strategy centered around integrating management of land, water, and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use. It recognizes that humans are important to the ecosystem and underpins the work of the CBD COP.
Capacity Building: The process of galvanizing and strengthening resources, knowledge, and skills to enhance the organization or individual’s ability to work towards their mission.
Rights of Nature: A legal tool that recognizes that nature has inherent and legal right to exist, thrive and regenerate. It grants nature legal personhood to defend itself in court. See: Whanganui River in New Zealand, the Rio Altrato in Colombia, and the Ganga and Yamuna rivers in India.
Nature-Based Solutions: A type of solution for societal challenges that integrates nature to achieve a mutual benefit for both humans and the environment. An example is using living shorelines as a barrier against storm surges and green roofs to minimize overheating in urban areas. Solutions may be applicable to problems with climate change, food and water security, and disaster risk reduction.
Rio Conventions: A term given to the conventions born out of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which are the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Since the conventions tackle interdependent issues, they are meant to coordinate and improve synergies between efforts.
30x30: Target 3 in the GBF. It calls for the conservation of at least 30% of the world’s land and water by 2030. The target was a major point of conflict during the framework negotiations due to its high ambition and risk to Indigenous and local communities that reside in these areas.
Fortress Conservation: A conservation model that proposes that biodiversity is best protected when there is no human disturbance. Examples of this model include national parks, such as Yellowstone or Yosemite, in the US. Following this model can lead to the forced removal of Indigenous peoples who have lived on affected lands for generations.
Works Cited:
Benedicto, Francisco, and Mariana Sarmiento. “Biodiversity Credit Market Must Learn from Carbon Offset Mistakes (Commentary).” Mongabay Environmental News, Mongabay Environmental News, 11 Jan. 2023, news.mongabay.com/2022/11/biodiversity-credit-market-must-learn-from-carbon-offset-mistakes-commentary/.
Benedicto, Francisco, and Mariana Sarmiento. “Biodiversity Credit Market Must Learn from Carbon Offset Mistakes (Commentary).” Mongabay Environmental News, Mongabay Environmental News, 11 Jan. 2023, news.mongabay.com/2022/11/biodiversity-credit-market-must-learn-from-carbon-offset-mistakes-commentary/.
“Biodiversity Offsets.” IUCN, IUCN, 26 July 2022, www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/biodiversity-offsets.
Chandrasekhar, A. In-depth Q&A: What are 'biodiversity offsets'? Carbon Brief, 26 Sept. 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023, https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/carbon-offsets-2023/biodiversity.html#section-what-are-some-of-the-chief-criticisms-of-biodiversity-offsets
“Capacity-Building.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/academic-impact/capacity-building#:~:text=Capacity%2Dbuilding%20is%20defined%20as,in%20a%20fast%2Dchanging%20world. Accessed 1 Sept. 2023.
“Conference of the Parties (COP).” Convention on Biological Diversity, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, www.cbd.int/cop/. Accessed 1 Sept. 2023.
“Biodiversity Backgrounder.” International Institute for Environment and Development, International Institute for Environment and Development, www.iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/2021-05/20201iied.pdf. Accessed 1 Sept. 2023.
“Ecosystem Services & Biodiversity (ESB).” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, www.fao.org/ecosystem-services-biodiversity/en/. Accessed 1 Sept. 2023.
Pearce, Reagan. “What Are Ecosystem Services?” Earth.Org, 3 Jan. 2023, earth.org/what-are-ecosystem-services/#:~:text=Ecosystem%20services%20are%20defined%20as,regulating%2C%20cultural%20and%20supporting%20services.https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Understanding-Conservation/Ecosystem-Services.
Ferrara, G. Fortress Conservation & the Makings of Yosemite National Park. School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, 22 April 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2023, from https://smea.uw.edu/currents/fortress-conservation-the-makings-of-yosemite-national-park/
Hill, D. “Rights, not 'fortress conservation', key to saving planet, says UN expert,” The Guardian, 16 July 2018 Retrieved November 3, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2018/jul/16/rights-not-fortress-conservation-key-to-save-planet-says-un-expert
“COP15: Nations Adopt Four Goals, 23 Targets for 2030 in Landmark UN Biodiversity Agreement.” Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on Biological Diversity, www.cbd.int/article/cop15-cbd-press-release-final-19dec2022. Accessed 1 Sept. 2023.
“Climate Explainer: Nature-Based Solutions.” World Bank, World Bank Group, 17 May 2022, www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2022/05/19/what-you-need-to-know-about-nature-based-solutions-to-climate-change.
“What Are Nature-Based Solutions and How Can They Help Us Address the Climate Crisis?” World Wildlife Fund, 10 Nov. 2020, www.worldwildlife.org/stories/what-are-nature-based-solutions-and-how-can-they-help-us-address-the-climate-crisis.
National biodiversity strategies and action plans. n.d.. IPBES. Retrieved November 3, 2023, from
“What is an NBSAP?,” Convention on Biological Diversity. 13 Oct. 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023, from https://www.cbd.int/nbsap/introduction.shtml
Challe, Tiffany. “The Rights of Nature – Can an Ecosystem Bear Legal Rights?” State of the Planet, Columbia Climate School, 23 Apr. 2021, news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/04/22/rights-of-nature-lawsuits/#:~:text=What%20are%20the%20%E2%80%9CRights%20of,or%20even%20by%20climate%20change.
“Rights of Nature (RON).” IPBES Secretariat, IPBES, 8 June 2019, ipbes.net/policy-support/tools-instruments/rights-nature-ron#:~:text=Rights%20of%20Nature%20(RoN)%20is,to%20exist%2C%20thrive%20and%20regenerate.
“The Rio Conventions.” Unfccc.Int, United Nations Climate Change, unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-rio-conventions#What-is-a-UN-Convention. Accessed 1 Sept. 2023.
30 x 30Einhorn, Catrin. “Nearly Every Country Signs on to a Sweeping Deal to Protect Nature.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Dec. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/climate/biodiversity-cop15-montreal-30x30.html.
Photography credit: Planet Labs PBC - Lake Natron, Tanzania-Kenya border - Edited by Ryder Kimball