Reception on COP27 and COP15
The Wildlife Conservation Society EU Office (WCS EU), the Belgian Biodiversity Platform (BBPF), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) organised on November 21st, 2022, a special reception to discuss why the world needs an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework to accelerate the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. The reception took place in the dinosaur gallery at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.
The 27h session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), commonly known as the Climate COP, took place from 6 November until 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Although the Climate COP tends to garner most of the political attention, this reception event aimed to show why achieving climate goals and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is dependent upon agreement of an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held this December in Montreal, Canada.
This is a critical juncture to demonstrate our collective support for Nature and for Climate Action. Here in Brussels, one of the epicentres of international policymaking, leaders representing governments, the European Union (EU), and civil society discussed why the world needs an ambitious new GBF to accelerate the delivery of the SDGs and the Paris Agreement, and some of their ideas for achieving success at COP15.
Welcome and introduction
Janice Weatherley-Singh, Director, WCS EU
Opening remarks
- H.E. Ailish Campbell, Ambassador of the Mission of Canada to the EU
- Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director General, DG Environment, European Commission
Panel
- William Macfarlane, Deputy Ambassador of the UK Mission to the EU
- Camila Maria Polo Florez, Chargée d’Affaires, Embassy of Colombia to Belgium and Luxembourg
- Ines Verlaye, Senior Biodiversity Expert, Service Public Fédéral Sante publique, Sécurité de la Chaîne Alimentaire et Environnement
- Joe Walston, Executive Vice-President for Global Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Society
Moderator
Noor Yafai, Europe Director Global Policy and Institutional Partnerships, The Nature Conservancy
