Last week a report from the UN Biodiversity Convention once again confirmed that humanity stands at a crossroad with regard to the state of nature it leaves to future generations. Biodiversity, the variety of life on Earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems, continues to decline and not even a single of the 20 global biodiversity targets set for 2020 has been fully achieved. New global targets should have been adopted in 2020 at a biodiversity summit in China, but this has been postponed because of COVID 19.

The policy brief explains the delayed process under the Biodiversity Convention towards a new global deal for biodiversity, some of the major issues under discussion, and how Norway has contributed proactively to the process. It also explains why the COVID 19 pandemic may create increased political awareness of the global biodiversity crisis.

The policy brief has been written by senior policy analyst Christian Prip.