$800,000 prize for biodiversity champion to be announced during high-level meeting
The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP 10) and the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity
Press Briefing at 10.00 a.m. 21 September 2010, Dag Hammarskjöld Library, United Nations Headquarters, New York City.
Speakers:
Ryu Matsumoto – Minister of the Environment of Japan
Takuya Okada – Chairman of the AEON Environmental Foundation, Japan
MISIA – UN-appointed Honorary Ambassador for COP 10
Ahmed Djoghlaf – Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
In the margins of a special high-level meeting devoted to the issue of biodiversity, The AEON Environmental Foundation will announce the winners of the $800,000 MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity that recognizes personal achievements in promoting conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
The announcement of the winners, and the high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 22 September, set the stage for next month’s world conference on biodiversity – the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) – that takes place in Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010.
At COP 10 governments are expected to adopt two important agreements that will safeguard the world’s biodiversity and ensure that it continues to contribute to poverty alleviation and sustainable development.
One is an international regime to guide access to genetic resources and ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their use; the other is an agreement to a new strategic plan for global and national implementation of the CBD over the coming decade, with firm targets to be achieved by 2020.
CBD Executive Secretary-General Ahmed Djoghlaf and Japan Environment Minister Ryu Matsumoto will discuss plans for the General Assembly High-level Meeting and the upcoming Conference in Nagoya. They will be joined by the Japanese singer MISIA, who has been designated by the UN as honorary ambassador to COP 10. MISIA will work over the coming two years to bring attention to the issues addressed by the COP.
For UN Press Accreditation, please contact the UN Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit,
Telephone: (212) 963-6934; Email: malu@un.org
The briefing will be webcast at: www.un.org/webcast/
For additional information, please contact: David Ainsworth on +1 514 287 7025 or at david.ainsworth@cbd.int; or Johan Hedlund on +1 514 2787 7760 or at johan.hedlund@cbd.int; or Neil Pratt at neil.pratt@cbd.int or at +44 7786 264 526.
2. Hollywood star Edward Norton joins scientists and UN officials to urge action on biodiversity
Press Briefing
2.00 p.m. 22 September 2010
Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium,
United Nations Headquarters
Edward Norton – United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity
Eric Chivian – Founder and Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School
Thomas Lovejoy – Biodiversity Chair of the Heinz Center
Ahmed Djoghlaf – Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
In the margins of the high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss a global strategy to protect biodiversity, actor Edward Norton, along with the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Ahmed Djoghlaf, and noted scientists Eric Chivian and Thomas Lovejoy, will discuss what is at stake in the global discussions and how citizens can become involved.
Maintaining the world’s biological diversity and the health of ecosystems is fundamental to human wellbeing, sustainable development and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Biodiversity provides service and regulation essential to virtually all basic human needs – clean air, water, food and fuel. It is essential to our wealth and our health and to the natural processes on which all life on earth depends.
The recent United Nations assessment report, Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO3), provides stark warning that the world’s biodiversity is in serious decline and that unless urgent action is taken and changes made in our approaches to production and consumption, major ecosystems and ecological processes are in danger of being degraded irreversibly.
The high-level meeting on biodiversity of the General Assembly on 22 September marks a major observance of the International Year of Biodiversity and will generate momentum toward a successful conclusion to next month’s Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP 10) in Nagoya, Japan, where countries will consider new strategy and commitments to ensure the preservation of biodiversity and measures to stem its loss.
For UN Press Accreditation, please contact the UN Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit,
Telephone: (212) 963-6934; Email: malu@un.org
The briefing will be webcast at: www.un.org/webcast/
For additional information, please contact: David Ainsworth on +1 514 287 7025 or at david.ainsworth@cbd.int; or Johan Hedlund on +1 514 2787 7760 or at johan.hedlund@cbd.int; or Neil Pratt at neil.pratt@cbd.int or at +44 7786 264 526.