Archived Events

The key international instrument for the protection of biological diversity is the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which is one of the three agreements under international law that were passed at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The CBD is not a traditional convention on the protection of species. It rather covers the entire area of protection and sustainable use of biological diversity with regard to habitats, species and genes. The political focus is in particular on the protection and sustainable use of forests and marine eco-systems.

However, the agreement also covers a number of less fashionable habitats which are also important for the global balance of nature, such as drylands and inland waters. Furthermore, the CBD has become a major platform to discuss the relationship between the international trading system and multilateral environmental agreements as well as an important instrument to promote the rights of indigenous peoples. Another fundamental aim of the Convention is to create an equitable benefit sharing from the use of genetic resources.

COHAB 2 reviewed research and action on the links between health and biodiversity since the first COHAB conference in 2005, and highlighted relevant developments in international and regional policies on biodiversity, public health and the MDGs. The outputs and impacts of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and relationships with other multi-lateral projects on climate change, biodiversity conservation, human development and environmental sustainability were explored.

The conference participants worked to produce a series of evidence-based reports on key issues, for consideration at subsequent multilateral meetings on the environment, health and development. The conference sessions mixed broad discussions with presentations of individual case studies, highlighting examples where ecosystem approaches have been taken to address community health and welfare needs.