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Biodiversity Governance and Indigenous Rights · The GroundWork Podcast

• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: Climate change, in terms of both its effects and mitigation strategies, has dominated environmental discussions up to now.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: And for years, the conservation of nature and biodiversity has, in a very real way, taken a back seat in these discussions.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: That has real-life consequences, with much less funding to support nature than flows to climate action.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: However, the priority placed on nature may be set to change.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_02: Astrid Schumacher, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, has said that we're in an unprecedented moment of engagement with biodiversity.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: Increasingly, people are realizing a truth that indigenous peoples have always known.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: Nature is our life support system, and there can be no life without nature.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: National governments are beginning to understand this too.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: Ecosystem health is a matter of national and global security.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: The UK government recently released a national security assessment linking global biodiversity loss to ecosystem collapse and national security.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: The report cites ecosystems around the world as integral to national well-being, further emphasising the interconnectedness of our modern world.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: With COP17 for the Convention on Biological Diversity just around the corner in October in Yerevan, Armenia, it's time to bring biodiversity to the forefront of the discussion.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: My name is Philippa Bailey, and this is the Groundwork Podcast.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: This episode was built on a groundwork webinar from July 30, 2026, where we spoke with Jennifer Tauli Korpuz from the IIFB and UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Fanny Kiuru Castro from COICA, representing Indigenous peoples of the Amazon, and Helen Tugenhat from the International Union of the Conservation of Nature, World Commission on Protected Areas.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: They spoke about the shared history between Indigenous peoples and the CBD processes, as well as recent progress in the fight to conserve nature and bring Indigenous peoples' contributions to the fore.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: This episode is a collective initiative by Seeds for Change, TINTA, and the International Climate Politics Hub with support from the Climate and Land Use Alliance.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: Groundwork works alongside Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant peoples, and local communities to strengthen engagement and political influence across international policy and governance spaces, shaping territories, rights, and collective futures.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: The UN Convention on Biological Diversity, or CBD, was one of the three Rio Conventions instituted in 1992.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: It focuses primarily on ecological conservation and the biodiversity of natural systems.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uniquely among the Rio Conventions, Indigenous peoples have been a part of the process from its inception, primarily through the inclusion of language in Article VII.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: This requires signatory governments to respect, preserve and maintain the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of Indigenous peoples and local communities relevant to conserving biodiversity.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: The COP or Conference of the Parties is where all of the countries who signed the convention come together to negotiate and assess progress.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: In the case of the CBD, it happens every two years.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: CBD COP 15, which took place in Montreal in 2022, saw the adoption of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: This major step forward was a framework to align parties pushing for greater ambition to conserve natural environments and reverse existing damage.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: The GBF set out 23 targets to be completed by 2030, which is now just four years away.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: One important target is the protection of 30% of land, water and seas by 2030, called 30 by 30 for short.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: We are at a midpoint now towards the 2030 deadline for achieving the targets that were laid out in the 2022 GBF.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: Speaking is Helen Tugenhat, the co-executive director of Synchronicity Earth and the thematic vice chair of governance, equity and rights in the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: So this year in Yelgan, we're going to see that the parties are reviewing the draft global report to check in on progress.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: We will also see the IIFB and others, including the Secretariat of the Convention and Forest People's Programme, launching a publication referred to Local Biodiversity Outlooks 3.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: This is a really important publication.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's an independent assessment of the contributions that Indigenous peoples and local communities are making to the achievement of the GBF.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it contains information which is simply missing from many of the national reports that are coming from governments.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: Indigenous peoples have had a long history with the UNCBD.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: Going back to its institution in 1992, the role of Indigenous peoples and their knowledge systems in conservation was recognized in Article J of the original text.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: Indigenous communities have had a more formalized role since the third convention of parties, when Indigenous representatives convened the first International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, or IIFB, in Argentina.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: We spoke to Jennifer Tauli Corpus, a member of the Kankanae Igorot Indigenous Peoples of the Mountain Province in the Philippines, and policy advisor to the IIFB, as well as an expert member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: She gave us a rich history of Indigenous peoples' involvement in the CBD.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you very much, Philippa.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_03: And thank you for this opportunity to talk about how Indigenous peoples are represented in the CBD, our views on the global biodiversity framework.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: And right now there's the global assessment of progress.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_03: So I'll talk a little bit about that.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_03: But also how to move forward some of the important decisions at COP 16.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: And as you said, summarizing a little bit what the priorities are for COP17.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: But at the Rio Earth Summit, there was very limited Indigenous participation, in particular from Brazil, from the Philippines, from Altayaroa or New Zealand, Canada, and the US.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_03: But despite this limited participation, Indigenous peoples are mentioned in the Rio Declaration and specifically mentioned in the Convention on Biological Diversity, through mainly through Article 8J, which talks about the role of Indigenous peoples and their knowledge systems in situ conservation, which is the biggest main mechanism of the CBD to implement its objectives.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_03: So the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity began as a forum.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_03: So it was a forum with speakers where Indigenous peoples were invited to present on the situation in their countries and to talk about how they are contributing to the work of the convention.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_03: So the first forum was convened during COP 3 in Buenos Aires in Argentina.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_03: And since that time, the IAFB has been convening before meetings of the Conference of the Parties, meetings of some subsidiary bodies, actually, right now all subsidiary bodies, as well as the working group on Article 8J.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_03: In 1997, the indigenous peoples from the IAFB who were participating in the COP suggested an ad hoc open-ended technical expert group be established to follow up on implementation of Article 8J and related provisions.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_03: This was rejected at COP3.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_03: However, they did say that they'd like to explore the idea further.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_03: Therefore, a workshop on traditional knowledge was authorized.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: And this took place in Madrid, Spain, in 1997.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_03: So the main mandate was to consider how to implement Article 8J and related provisions.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_03: And finally, as a result of the outcome of that workshop, um COP IV officially decided to establish the working group on Article 8J and related provisions.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_03: So that was in 1998.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: In the year 2000 was when the first meeting of the working group took place, and the IAFB uh convened its fourth forum on uh indigenous peoples and biodiversity.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_03: So this was in Sevilla, Spain, um, where the working group on HA also took place.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_03: So the forum proposed um many things um which formed the basis of the program of work, the first program of work of Article 8J.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_03: Among these things, they proposed um an analysis of the status and trends of traditional knowledge in the different indigenous regions, the seven sociocultural regions, as well as other um actions that needed to be taken in order to implement Article 8J.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: And then from 2000 to 2007, from the first to the fifth working group meetings, um, there was no indigenous co-chair of the working group as such, but the sub-working groups had indigenous co-chairs.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_03: And the bureau of the of the working group, of the COP, basically, of the conference of the parties, had six friends of the Bureau from the first to the fourth meetings.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: And in the fifth meeting, they decided to reflect all of the seven sociocultural regions.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_03: So that was in 2007, or um when the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_03: Then in COP five, in the year 2000, there was a decision that officially recognized the role that Indigenous peoples and the IAFB had been playing since COP 3 and invited parties to turn to uh the IAFB for advice.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um so we were officially designated as an advisory body to the COP on implementation of Article 8J and related provisions.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: It was at this COP, COP 5 in Kenya, that the IIFB was officially designated an advisory body to the COP, with a focus on the implementation of Article 8J and related provisions.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: This also marked the first meeting of the working group on Article 8J, which became the primary instrument for embedding indigenous voices, traditional ecological knowledge, and benefit sharing mechanisms directly into the global biodiversity framework.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: What were some of the outcomes from their work?
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: We have had um two work programs.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_03: And under the work programs, we had we have um produced um several different guidelines.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um they are voluntary guidelines, but they have been useful.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_03: Uh in some cases, the Indigenous peoples have gotten their uh governments to adopt the guidelines formally as part of their legal and policy system.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_03: So the first one was the Agwegu guideline, um, which is um in addition to environmental impact assessment and social impact assessments, it provided guidance on cultural and spiritual impact assessments, which were important elements when you talk about indigenous peoples.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_03: We also noticed that uh a lot of research was taking place in Indigenous peoples' territories, and it was very extractive in nature.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_03: So there are also guidelines, the Kariwayeri Code of Ethical Conduct, it's a code of ethical conduct for the cultural and intellectual heritage of indigenous and local communities.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_03: So it's basically to guide those who are doing research on traditional knowledge.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, then we also said that for traditional knowledge that has been taken without consent of indigenous peoples and placed in books, in other places, um, there is a need to think about how to restore indigenous peoples to the ownership of that knowledge.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_03: So there was this Rutsuli Girisaksik voluntary guidelines for the repatriation of traditional knowledge.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_03: And the last one that was developed by the working group before it got uh superseded by the subsidiary body is the Motzkustal guidelines, which is on free prior informed consent in relation to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_03: So these are the kinds of things that the HJ Working Group um produces.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_03: But in addition, there has been the promotion of um designation by countries of Article 8J focal points.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_03: And these are important um points of cooperation between Indigenous peoples and the government to move forward on Indigenous peoples' issues at the national level.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_03: And this has resulted in things like recognition of the contribution of indigenous lands and waters and territories to conservation outcomes.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_03: And it culminated in 2019 when the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services published its global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: And they found that most of the uh ecologically intact and biodiversity-rich areas are in Indigenous peoples and local communities, territories and areas.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: Not because the group was found to be unnecessary, but the opposite.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: Indigenous peoples and local communities advocated for a permanent body within the convention.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_02: The following year, 2024, in Cali, Colombia, a dedicated subsidiary body on Article J was formally established.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_03: So in Cali, as I said, um, one of the key outcomes, which is really a big feather in the cap of the Colombian presidency at the time, was the establishment of the subsidiary body on Article 8J.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_03: And the reason for this, uh the reason why we were able to win this argument that we need to have a permanent body that would address Indigenous peoples issues, is because seven of the 23 targets of the global biodiversity, the GBF, um, specifically mention indigenous peoples and our rights.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_03: And in addition, there are almost all of the targets are relevant for the rights of Indigenous peoples, such as target two, which is on ecological restoration.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_03: So because of that argument, uh, we said that a working group is no longer sufficient because the working group usually has a limited lifespan, but it is evident from the GBF targets that indigenous peoples have a continuing role to play in achieving the goals, targets, and objectives of the convention.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think that it's going to be really important to have the first meeting of the subsidiary body of Article H during this year's COP.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: I think that this will be really important for us all Indigenous people.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to advocate for our rights and especially for the implementation of the GDF.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: This process happens at an international level.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: And we've seen indigenous people taking part in this level.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think that while we've been present, it has not been done particularly fully or effectively.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: This is Fanny Quiro Castro, leader of the Witoto people of the Gitomagaro clan, and general coordinator of Queka, the coordination of indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's something that's been our proposal for a while now.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: Legal security for everyone in all their territories, also to ensure the inclusion of their ancestral knowledge.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not just calling it ancestral knowledge, but that it's really accepted as a science and that this is taken into account in all the planning and in all the reporting, especially when we're talking about environmental impact.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: We also fight for free, prior and informed consent, which depending on the country, the concept can go under different names.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: But this goes beyond just the name.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Free, prior, informed consent, it's about effective participation with the right to also cast a vote and raise your voices when it comes to decision making.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's how we have been working within GOICA as well.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: As COICA with different important topics for us.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: One of them is to define our territory.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: So here you would see the FIIB with the support of the training facility and the WWS.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we get together as representatives from the Amazon Basin to discuss what an indigenous territory is.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that follows up on the work that COICA has been carrying out in Panama.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Koika really pushed for the inclusion of the indigenous territories on the goal number three.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that's thanks to Koika, together with the political delegates that had the support, such as delegates from Ecuador who worked really hard to add the inclusion of these key words in goal number three.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: We have to explain that negotiations often have to do a lot with the words included.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes when we don't have an agreement, we have you know we leave these open brackets and the people negotiated and they could choose to add or refuse specific words.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so with that, we had an immediate reaction.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: We created a new paragraph, which Gene proposed and Columbia approved.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: And because this is all about parties, and if the parties don't support our proposals, so if our proposals don't get the support of the different state parties, then all our work leads to nothing.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: Fanny brings up some key points.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: The inclusion of proposals defined by Indigenous peoples is critical to ensure the ability for Indigenous communities to preserve their land.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: So what must be done at the upcoming CBD COP17 to ensure this happens?
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_03: So, of course, one of the top priorities is the full operationalization of the subsidiary body, and that can be achieved by adopting the modus operandi.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_03: Then, of course, we would be aiming for the adoption of the guidelines on indigenous and traditional territories.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_03: And the reason is that we want our territories to be recognized as such, and not so that we don't have to be incorporated into protected areas or have to declare our territories as um as OECMs in order to get support and recognition.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_03: So that is the purpose, and so that our efforts to um to preserve biodiversity would be supported through um different financial mechanisms.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_03: Then, as I said earlier, the roadmap for updating the glossary of terms, and then a decision that direct access to finance would be um one of the main substantive agenda items at the second meeting of um SBH.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um the direct access to finance is also contained in different um decisions.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: That are being negotiated here in Nairobi.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: One is going to be taken up next week at SBI 7 on resource mobilization.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_03: And in that decision is the notion of direct and accessible finance for actions by Indigenous peoples and local communities.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_03: In the program of work on protected areas, which is being updated now, there is also guarantee there to establish direct access finance modalities for Indigenous people.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_03: So we are hoping that all of those we're going to work hard to make sure that all of those are going to remain in the decisions.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_03: Then of course, one of the main topics for COP17 is the global report on progress of implementation.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_03: And what we have been struggling for is for the local perspective, the perspective of indigenous peoples and local communities to be taken into account.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_03: So there is the local biodiversity outlook's third edition, which is meant to be published as a companion publication to the global biodiversity outlook and the online reporting tool for actors other than national governments.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_03: At the moment, it's so difficult to access, so it's not easy to report the efforts by Indigenous peoples and local communities in implementing the KMGB.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_03: And then we also have the update of the program of work on protected areas.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_03: This program of work is 22 years old, and there have been so many changes since then.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_03: And right now, that that program of work only regards um protected areas as the only mode of um uh conservation, basically of protecting biological diversity.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_03: It also treats indigenous peoples as mere beneficiaries, although, of course, it still has some good um uh provisions, um, including involving indigenous peoples in the gov uh the management of protected areas and the need to obtain free prior and informed consent before Indigenous uh before protected areas can be established over Indigenous peoples' lands and waters.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_03: But um yeah, but right now I can tell you, since I am leading the um the team of the IAFB on the updating of the program of work on protected areas, we have quite good language in there, including um the need to have a differentiated approach for indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact in line with the principles of no contact, intangibility, and precaution.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_03: There, uh as I said earlier, there is also something on direct access to finance.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_03: And then finally, in relation also to finance, we are hoping that the Kali fund would be completely operationalized by COP 17.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: So COP 17 in Armenia is a critical point for the full operationalization of the subsidiary body on Article 8J.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_02: Their work post-COP17 will be instrumental in furthering the global biodiversity framework goals.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: The commission that I sit in, um I should say I'm not a chair, I'm a vice chair.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um the commission that I sit in is the World Commission on Protected Areas, and it the Commission is very committed to supporting work at the national level to ensure there is support for Indigenous peoples and for local communities to sustain or advance conservation in their territories.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: We also recognise that the ongoing work of the subsidiary body on H, already described in detail by Jing, should, when it comes through and is adopted, allow us to connect the dots and report important local and national level work into global accounting.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: For that, we will need the adoption of some of the outputs of the subsidiary body of 8J.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: So we need this reporting process in Yerevan, this touch point as we get to halfway through, to be a prompt to advance and to support work on the ground.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: We know that peoples and communities are already doing and have been doing for generations really important work to advance and sustain conservation.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: And under the guidance of the subsidiary body on HA, we're looking forward to that being able to be reported on in an appropriate way in due course.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: But the key message that I wanted to put forward is that not all the action that we need to see to achieve what the GBF wants to achieve is currently visible in the reporting that we can see.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that is something that we should try to change.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: But it's the action that matters the most.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so real focus and attention needs to be paid to advancing action on the ground, action at local levels and action at national levels, while waiting to see how the reporting and disaggregation of data will catch up.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: The monitoring framework that was adopted in Kali that applies to the global biodiversity framework does not have fully developed indicators on all elements of the global biodiversity framework.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: Indicators are badly developed or shallowly developed for Section C and also for target 22, which is a really critical target in the framework because it contains commitments on land and tenure rights.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: It also contains commitments on rights of women and girls and protection for human rights defenders.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: And yet the indicators that we're reporting against in the global report don't address all the elements of that target.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: On a slightly more positive note, um, one difference in the global biodiversity framework when compared with the earlier plans and targets that I've referred to is the recognition in the global biodiversity framework of the contributions of Indigenous and traditional territories to the realization of target three, and also the recognition in the GBF of the importance of rights to lands, territories, and resources in target 22.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: These are really important innovations and really important progressions in this in this framework.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: This new recognition of Indigenous lands and territories is opens an avenue for action that can support the area-based targets generally.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: So these are the not only the conservation target in target three, also the restoration target in target two and the spatial planning target in target one.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: Though one, two, three taken together are the area-based targets, the land and sea targets.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: Here again, we brush up against some issues with the monitoring framework.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: So with that context in place, we are now looking at the draft global report for this global biodiversity framework.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: The draft report's available.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: If people want to see it, we can put a link in it.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: You can go in and start to have a look.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: It will be discussed and reviewed by the parties in Yerevan.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: The overarching message of this report now is that although the framework has generated global engagement and it has generated innovation and collaboration, it is not going to meet implementation, it is not going to meet the 23 targets.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: Unless collective implementation accelerates rapidly, the targets are going to be missed.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: The collective scope and the planned actions of the national targets set by parties also do not yet reflect the scope and the level of ambition of the global targets within the framework.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: The report also shows that progress is really uneven between the targets.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: Targets that address indirect drivers of biodiversity loss are, in particular, really lagging behind.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: So targets related to business, business activity, targets related to harmful subsidies that impact on biodiversity are lagging in their implementation when compared to the other targets.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: The global report also finds that the national reports submitted by government are really weak in some of the cross-cutting issues and considerations for implementation that form such an important part of the global biodiversity framework.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: With these, I'm referring to the elements of the framework that are called Section C.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: These are considerations for implementation in Section C.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: They include the application of a human rights-based approach.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: It includes the application of intergenerational thinking and the rights of children.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: And it also includes acknowledgement of the roles and contributions of Indigenous peoples.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: These considerations are supposed to imply apply to the implementation of the entire framework, and yet national reports are not addressing how those cross-cutting issues are being put into place at the national level.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: We've come a long way since the conception of the UNCBD, but what was recognised then remains true to this day.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: Integrating the priorities and recognizing the rights, knowledge, and contributions of indigenous peoples and local communities is critical to any efforts to conserve biodiversity and protect our natural ecosystems.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: The establishment of the subsidiary body on HA was a major accomplishment, but work remains to be done.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: This year, CBD COP17 will mark an important step in the continuing battle to safeguard biodiversity and the life forces that sustain us all.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: That's all for today.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you very much for listening to another episode of the Groundwork Podcast.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: My name is Philippa Bailey, and I will see you in the next episode.