Rare at COP17
Scaling community-led solutions to deliver the Global Biodiversity Framework
From October 19 – 30, Rare will join 20,000+ government officials, civil society leaders, and conservation practitioners in Yerevan, Armenia for the 17th UN Biodiversity Conference.
COP17 is the first global review of progress since countries adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) – a critical test of whether commitments are turning into results. COP17 will confront the gap between commitment and delivery: strengthening synergies across climate and biodiversity action, accelerating progress towards 30×30, the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ rights and governance, and closing the biodiversity finance gap that stands between ambition and impact.
Rare’s engagements at COP17 will focus on the strength of community-led solutions to address conservation challenges. Communities around the world are already designing and delivering the conservation solutions the Framework calls for. COP17 is an opportunity for these solutions to be moved from the margins of the agenda to the center of how the world finances and scales conservation.
Five things we will be watching at COP17
Rare’s delegation will focus on strengthening support for community-led solutions to safeguard biodiversity. Are countries committed to giving communities the rights to lead in the protection of natural resources? Will public, private, and philanthropic funders commit to mobilizing financial resources that better reach the frontlines of our conservation challenges? Will local communities be represented at the decision-making tables?
Those are some of the big questions Rare has heading into COP17.
Global commitments on biodiversity and climate are made in conference halls, but their success ultimately depends on what happens in communities like ours.
Mayors from across the globe issue a call for greater interconnectedness between CBD and Climate COPs.
Let’s Connect
Want to get in touch for COP17? Email Tanmatra Bhanti at tbhanti@rare.org.
Closing the biodiversity finance gap
Today we face a tremendous gap between the funds we need for conservation in the world’s most vulnerable places, and the actual money currently being invested. Philanthropy is essential but falls short of what is required. At COP17, Rare will showcase innovative solutions that bring together public, private, and philanthropic capital and channel it toward the frontlines of conservation and climate change.
Scaling a pay-for-results approach to ocean protection
Channeling capital toward the revitalization of coastal communities and ecosystems.
Connecting frontline communities to the formal financial sector.
Advancing 30×30 for Coastal Communities
As countries continue to make commitments to protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030 (30×30), there is a gap between ambition and effective action. Based on the recently launched Ocean Protection Gap Report, 26% of terrestrial and inland water areas would be protected if all existing government pledges were fulfilled by 2030, but only 12% of marine ecosystems would be covered.
For marine protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) to be effective, they need to be grounded in community leadership, social legitimacy, and effective fisheries outcomes for those who depend on it the most. At COP17, Rare will show how community-led coastal governance approaches can contribute to national 30×30 commitments while simultaneously advancing sustainable fisheries, food security, climate resilience, and local livelihoods.
Revitalizing coastal fisheries to empower local communities to manage them sustainably.
Explore progress towards 30×30 in the ocean
From illegal fishing to protecting the ocean
Using biodiversity to advance community resilience
Biodiversity conservation is a critical component to building resilience in communities, especially those that already face the most impacts from climate change – despite the fact that they contribute least to the causes. By leading with a community first lens, scaling adaptation and resilience contributes to more than just climate and biodiversity goals and extends to protecting livelihoods, traditions, and ways of living.
Climate and biodiversity are inherently linked. Even with two different COPs, these interconnected issues cannot be separated from one another. As such, COP17 outcomes will lay the foundation for the upcoming UN Climate Conference (COP31) in Anatalya, Türkiye.
Rare envisions a world where people thrive in the places they call home.
And why it matters more than ever
A look at community-led conservation fostering resilience on Brazil’s Amazon Coast