Co-create the third National Strategy for Biodiversity (FR0057)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? The urgent need for a third National Strategy for Biodiversity (2021–2030) The report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and France’s own indicators paint an alarming picture of the state of biodiversity in France and around the world. With extinctions occurring at a rate 100 to 1,000 times higher than the natural rate, we could see half of all living species disappear over the next century. In 2018, 28% of the 96,951 species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List were threatened with extinction, including 40% of amphibians, 25% of mammals, 14% of birds, 31% of sharks and rays, and 34% of conifers. Natural habitats are also being weakened or destroyed by human activity. For example, more than 35% of the world’s coastal and inland wetlands have disappeared since 1970. At the current rate of deforestation, tropical forests could disappear in the next 50 to 70 years. But we depend on nature. It provides essential ecosystem services, fulfilling primary needs such as oxygen, food, drinkable water and fuel. It inspires innovations and is a tremendous resource for the medical field. It ensures our crops can grow, via pollinator species, and keeps our land fertile. It provides protection against natural hazards such as floods. The issue received fresh impetus at the highest level with the One Planet Summit on biodiversity held in Paris on 11 January 2021. From 3 to 11 September 2021 in 27 Marseille, France also hosted the World Conservation Congress, a major IUCN event. The upcoming COP 15 Biodiversity Summit, where a new global framework will be finalised, is to be hosted by China. And the European Union is currently updating Europe’s biodiversity strategy. The National Strategy for Biodiversity is the outcome of France’s commitment under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Following an initial phase (2004– 2010) based on sector-specific action plans, the 2011– 2020 strategy targeted stronger commitments from stakeholders in all industries and across all regions, in both mainland and overseas France. The third strategy (for 2021–2030, referred to as the “SNB3”) will be developed throughout 2021. It will be a strong response from France and its citizens to the issues outlined here. It will propose a strategic framework that works on technical, social and political levels. It will address both structural and operational issues and be both national and regional in scope. In this context, in September 2021 in Marseille, France outlined its goals for this strategy. It will be amended to integrate decisions made at international level. The goal is to produce a first version of the strategy by summer 2022.

What is the commitment? Drafting the SNB3 will meet two major objectives:  Co-develop a national roadmap for the next decade that addresses the five pressures weighing on biodiversity and removes barriers to more operational public policy  Create engagement on the issue of biodiversity in France’s regions, where citizens’ interactions with biodiversity are strongest and where local governments and project leaders are located

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? The final objectives of the SNB3 can be broken down into three main categories: 1. Actions targeting the causes of biodiversity loss: This involves reducing or eliminating the main pressures causing biodiversity loss, i.e. the five threats identified by the IPBES: changes in land and sea use; direct exploitation of organisms (overfishing, deforestation, poaching); pollution (water, soil, air, light, sound); climate change (as a cause on its own but also as an aggravator of other causes); and invasive alien species. 2. Restoring biodiversity: This means going beyond merely protecting species and actually reclaiming land for them. 3. Promoting the benefits of biodiversity for citizens by restoring the link between humans and nature.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? The SNB3 development process involves wide-ranging participation from institutional stakeholders and citizens, which makes it relevant to OGP objectives for public participation and transparency in designing and implementing public policy, and in relation to environmental issues. This objective will be followed in implementing the strategy. In fact, the governance model envisioned involves transparent public indicators that encourage participation.

Stakeholders 1. The State (all ministries), its departments and agencies 2. International biodiversity organisations (CBD, IUCN, etc.) 3. National and regional biodiversity organisations (CNB, CNTE, CESE, CRB, CEB, etc.) 4. Local governments (regions, départements, municipal communities, municipalities, etc.) 5. Economic stakeholders (businesses, financiers, unions) 6. Managers of natural areas 7. Knowledge and education organisations (research centres, universities, nature education centres, etc.) 8. Civil society (citizens, NGOs, users of nature, etc.)

Action Plan Review

Commitment 7. Co-develop the third National Strategy for Biodiversity for 2021–2030 and foster engagement in the regions

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Unclear