Connect with Nature: Celebrate Universal Children's Day

Did you know that November 20th is Universal Children's Day? The United Nations first proclaimed this day in 1954 to promote child welfare across the world. There are few better ways to celebrate than helping a child connect with nature!

In his 2005 book “Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder”, Richard Louv reported a startling decrease in the amount of direct exposure that many of today’s children have to nature. In a recent study, 73% of parents reported that their children spend their after-school hours watching TV, reading or playing video or computer games, rather than enjoying outdoor play or physical activity. The same study found that children are spending an average of six hours per day in front of a computer or television screen outside of school hours.

The effects of this problem – dubbed “nature-deficit disorder” by Louv – are troubling. A growing number of studies are demonstrating a link between this lack of interaction with nature and problems like childhood obesity and attention-deficit disorder. Luckily, help can be as close as your own backyard. Doctors are reporting that spending as little as 20 minutes per day in an urban park, community or personal garden, can have a positive impact on our physical and emotional heath.

This Sunday, celebrate Universal Children’s Day by spending a little extra time outdoors. Not sure where to start? Check out this list of fun nature activities for families or join a presentation by a nature club or young naturalist club near you.

Photo by Brenda Foubert

Nature Canada Calls for Stronger Commitment to Protect Canada’s Species at Risk

Unfortunately, it has come to this.

We have decided to withdraw our complaint with the Commission on Environmental Cooperation that alleges the government of Canada has failed to enforce laws to protect at least 197 native at-risk species. By doing so, we’re sending the message that there needs to be a stronger commitment from both international bodies and national governments to protect species at risk.

Why are we doing this?

When Ecojustice, on behalf of Nature Canada and 13 other Canadian and U.S. organizations, filed the complaint nearly four years ago, we expected that it would result in an independent assessment of our allegation that Canada is not enforcing species protection law. What we got instead was cherry-picking that would have conveniently concealed Canada’s continuing inaction.

This became painfully clear when it was announced last week that the complaint, filed in 2006, would be investigated by the Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC), a body created by NAFTA to oversee environmental issues tied to the trade agreement. Unfortunately, the CEC said it would only look at 11 species, greatly narrowing the scope of its review.

These are not just any 11 species.

The biased sample happens to include those exceptional cases that would give the impression that Canada is doing a much better job than is true. In light of this limited approach, we have withdrawn our complaint, since excessive delays and political interference in the investigation’s scope have made the investigation meaningless at best, and more likely counterproductive.

What is worse, is that Canada’s record on implementing the Species at Risk Act has anything but improved since our original 2006 complaint. That means species at risk are languishing without government plans to rescue them, without the required identification of their habitat, and without protection.

Echoing our thoughts on the CEC’s recent decision, Joe Scott of U.S.-based Conservation Northwest says: “The NAFTA review process is being shown to be nothing but smoke and mirrors. We are pulling our complaint so that such a government green-washing process doesn’t get a reputation for credibility it doesn’t deserve.”

The silver lining to this cloud is that, in the years that the governments delayed responding to our complaint, Ecojustice has been successful at advancing our case through Canadian courts. Judgements in a number of cases have confirmed that Canada has failed to live up to the obligations of its species protection law. The true test of the federal government’s commitment to conservation will be its response to a parliamentary committee studying possible improvements to the implementation of the Species at Risk Act. We expect that report later this year.

The Cancún Agreement

Last week saw the conclusion of the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Cancún, Mexico. The resulting Cancún Agreement is not legally binding, but it is more than most expected. The signatories (all negotiating parties except Bolivia, who considers the agreement ecocide) agreed to keep talking; promised to keep global temperature rise below 2 °C (without saying how); and pledged to establish a Green Climate Fund (with the World Bank as the trustee) where developed countries are expected to contribute $100 billion per year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries, as well as approximately $30 billion for 2010-2012 as a fast-start finance mechanism.

Two other positive advances in the climate negotiations are: 1) an agreement on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), in which developing countries are encouraged to, and compensated for, protecting their forests.; and 2) the establishment of the Cancún Adaptation Framework, with the ‘objective of enhancing action on adaptation’.

The unresolved question is whether to extend the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which contains binding emissions reduction targets for developed countries. The debate is postponed to COP17 to be held in Durban, South Africa in 2011, or in 2012, the year the Protocol expires. Unlike many countries that were willing to compromise, Canada, Japan and Russia strongly oppossed an extension of Kyoto. Canada has argued only an agreement including all countries would be effective and fair–the US has not ratified the Protocol, and India and China are exempted from cutting their emissions until 2012. Some Canadians, however, would prefer to be leaders in cutting emissions.

For many, the Cancún Agreement has revitalized the UN body regulating climate change, especially after the failure of COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009. Expectations were extremely low, so most have applauded the outcomes. Yet the most urgent outcome-a plan to reduce emissions and keep the global temperature rise below catastrophic levels-will have to wait until South Africa.

Three Major Decisions to Conserve Biodiversity

All 193 Parties attending the Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) in Nagoya, Japan ended their two week conference with the adoption of three major decisions:

1) the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS);
2) the post-2010 (2011-2020) Strategic Plan; and
3) a resource mobilization strategy with the objective of increasing resources to enhance the implementation of the Convention.

Click here to read these decisions (they are the first three decisions in the list of COP10 outcomes).

Parties have one year, between 02 February 2011 - 01 February 2012, to ratify the legally binding ABS Protocol. The Protocol will only enter into force after 50 ratifications. Although the Protocol was adopted, after many years of negotiations, some Parties were not satisfied. Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba and some African nations expressed their concerns over the Protocol, which they find does not take into account their views. However, they did not stand in the way of its adoption.

Parties to the Convention also adopted a decision which endorsed the Government of Japan's proposal, submitted on September 22 at the United Nations General Assembly High Level meeting, to declare 2011-2020 as the UN Decade on Biodiversity. The objective of the proposal is to create momentum for the implementation of the CBD and its new Strategic Plan, as well as contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Many NGOs, including Conservation International and the Canadian Environmental Network, have supported the proposal.

There was some concern around the CBD's implementation, but these decisions have given us a little bit of hope. However, let's not forget that actions speak louder than words, and ink and paper. That being said, we ask you to send a letter urging the Canadian government to take action to conserve Canada's biodiversity during this International Year of Biodiversity.

CBD COP10; The Action Begins

We've mentioned the Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) in various blog posts, and we also mentioned the importance of COP10 in addressing the global biodiversity crisis the world is facing today. COP10 began today in Nagoya, Japan, and the time has come for some important (and delicate) issues to be agreed upon. Three of the main issues are:

- A Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing;
- A Strategic Plan for the post-2010 period; and
- A new Strategy for Resource Mobilization.

Call on Canada's Government to protect biodiversity by signing our open letter to Prime Minister Harper to take 5 steps on behalf of biodiversity.

Read more of our CBD and International Year of Biodiversity related blog posts.

Is the CBD's Implementation at Risk?

From September 18 to 21 negotiations took place in Montreal to finalize text for the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Protocol under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The Protocol is designed to ensure that fair and equitable sharing of benefits arises from the utilization of genetic resources. The text was not finalized and it was proposed to reconvene before the tenth meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP10) in Nagoya, Japan this October, but was refused by the EU representative; Canada, Australia and Switzerland did not voice a preference on whether or not to reconvene.

Hope for adoption of the protocol at COP10 has somewhat diminished following some developed countries lack of keenness on the matter (mainly Canada and the EU). This creates a divide between biodiversity-rich countries (providers of genetic resources) and developed countries (users of genetic resources). Developed countries are afraid that a legally binding protocol with a compliance mechanism would hinder progress within the pharmaceutical, agribusiness and biotechnology sectors. Conversely biodiversity-rich countries believe that an ABS protocol is essential for the proper implementation of the CBD. They are also concerned that if the protocol is not legally binding, cases of biopiracy (unauthorized access to a genetic resource and not sharing the benefits arising out of its utilization with the community in which it was discovered) will be on the rise.

When government leaders met on September 22, at the United Nations General Assembly High Level meeting to commemorate the International Year of Biodiversity, Brazil’s Minister of Environment, Izabella Teixeira, on behalf of the Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries (comprised of Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, South Africa and Venezuela – collectively holds almost 80% of the world’s biodiversity) stressed the importance of COP10; which sets the stage for three major decisions to be taken: 1) the Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing, 2) the Strategic Plan for the post-2010 period, and 3) the New Strategy for Resource Mobilization.

Representatives from Denmark, Argentina, Belgium and the European Commissioner of the Environment stated that further action and commitment by Parties to the Convention was needed to conclude an ABS Protocol in COP10. Jim Prentice, Canada’s Minister of Environment, kept it short and sweet without mentioning the ABS Protocol. There are rumors that Canada is one of the main countries holding back the progress on this negotiation – presumably because of concerns over Traditional Knowledge held by indigenous communities.

Failing to adopt the protocol in COP10 could significantly undermine the CBD, especially given that ABS is one of three CBD objectives.

There is a bit of good news, a meeting has been confirmed to resume negotiations before COP10 - a little bit of hope?

Call on Canada's Government to protect biodiversity by signing our open letter to Prime Minister Harper to take 5 steps on behalf of biodiversity.

Check Undercover COP for updates on CBD negotiations.

IUCN Urges Governments to Make Funds Available to Slow Biodiversity Loss

As a contribution to the International Year of Biodiversity, the United Nations is holding a high-level meeting today, September 22, at its General Assembly's 65th session in New York to address the extinction crisis - the first high-level meeting to ever address this subject. The event is part of the United Nations effort to raise awareness about the loss of biological diversity (biodiversity) and shed light on the need to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) - one of three UN Conventions born at the Rio Summit in 1992 to enable countries to conserve their biological diversity, sustainably use it and share, equitably and fairly, the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

A 10 year strategic plan, known as the Post-2010 Strategic Plan, consisting of 20 targets, is due to be adopted by the Parties to the CBD during the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) in Nagoya, Japan this October. The aim of the Strategic Plan is to assist Parties in halting the loss of biodiversity by 2020.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recognizes that it is imperative to take into consideration the financial resources needed to achieve these targets and is calling on governments to address this issue at the high-level meeting before COP10.

Examples of questions for discussion at today's meeting are:

- What are the human, institutional, scientific and financial resources that countries need in order to fully implement the Convention and what mechanisms are needed to ensure that each country has access to the resources it needs?

- How will you ensure that the post-2010 biodiversity strategy is reflected in your national biodiversity strategy and action plan, including a set of measurable national biodiversity targets?

- How will you ensure that the post-2010 biodiversity strategy is reflected in your national and local development priorities and that biodiversity will be mainstreamed throughout government and in all sectors of society and the economy?

"When governments meet next month in Nagoya they must be ready to invest what’s needed to halt biodiversity loss, and so avoid the much larger costs of inaction" says Julia-Martin Lefèvre, IUCN's Director General.

According to the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species, 21 percent of mammals, 30 percent of amphibians, 12 percent of birds, 35 percent of conifers and cycads, 17 percent of sharks and 27 percent of reef-building corals assessed are threatened with extinction!

Call on Canada's Government to protect biodiversity by signing our open letter to Prime Minister Harper to take 5 steps on behalf of biodiversity.

Edward Norton Appointed UN Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity

On July 8, 2010 at the UN’s headquarters in New York, actor and director Edward Norton was designated Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon.

Norton, a committed social and environmental activist, is also a major financial supporter for various charitable causes. Last November Norton ran the NYC Marathon in 3h48 min along with three Maasai warriors and a team of 30 people, ultimately raising close to a million dollars for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.

In a statement to the press, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon applauded Norton’s long time involvement in sustainable development and conservation issues, “Edward Norton has brought global star power to global issues. His efforts to preserve biodiversity and promote ecosystem integrity in East Africa have been truly impressive.”

The UN and Norton hope to use Norton’s celebrity status to promote awareness on the impact of biodiversity loss. “Environmental conservation, climate change, biodiversity are very much the issues that will define my generation,” stated Norton. Norton hopes to use his new role to inspire young people to take up the challenge of environmental protection as he believes people do not relate as well to the issue of biodiversity loss compared to issues with a human component. “(People) don't necessarily link themselves as directly to a crisis like biodiversity loss, as much as they will to say a refugee crisis. But I think catastrophic events, such as what is happening in the Gulf with the oil spill, do highlight for people that there is an enormous ramification for human well-being to a loss of biodiversity like a fishery,” stated Norton.

Norton's appointment marks the UN's 2010 International Year of Biodiversity, “a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives.”

In September, the UN will hold a General Assembly, gathering 192 heads of state — its first high-level session focusing on biodiversity. Norton hopes leaders will present “compelling examples” of solutions to biodiversity loss that can be translated into concrete government policies.