UN Experts Call for Accelerated Action and Human Rights Focus Ahead of COP17 Biodiversity Talks

GENEVA — Ahead of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), United Nations experts have issued a statement urging member states to accelerate the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and prioritize human rights, including the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.

The experts expressed concern that collective global efforts to counter biodiversity loss have progressed slowly despite previous commitments. In their statement, they pointed to significant deficits in expanding stakeholder participation, protecting environmental and human rights defenders, and adopting gender-responsive biodiversity governance.

The KMGBF aims to address biodiversity loss, promote sustainable use, and ensure fair benefit-sharing. According to the UN experts, the framework mandates a human rights-based approach that acknowledges the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, peasants, and small-scale fishers over their lands, resources, and traditional knowledge. It also encompasses commitments to gender equality and the protection of children, youth, people with disabilities, and environmental defenders.

Highlighting findings from the Global Report on collective progress under the framework, the experts noted that implementation has not matched the urgency of the global biodiversity crisis. They cautioned that assessment methodologies risk becoming superficial "accounting exercises" without robust, rights-based indicators and metrics that capture real-world impacts.

The experts emphasized that implementation by states, businesses, and UN entities must align with international human rights standards. These include the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, and guidance from UN committees focused on children's rights, disabilities, and the elimination of discrimination against women.

Additionally, the experts called on governments to protect ecosystems by adhering to due diligence obligations clarified by international judicial bodies, including the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

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