Sub-regional workshop and dialogue for the Pacific small island developing States

• The sixth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) – the universal decision-making body on the environment, held in Nairobi in 2024 adopted two resolutions, which mandated the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with: promoting synergies, cooperation or collaboration for the national implementation of the multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) (UNEA 6/4); and facilitating the coherent and effective implementation of the MEAs at the regional and national levels and on a Member State–driven basis (UNEA 6/6). 

• In November 2024, The UN Convention on Biological Diversity's COP 16 adopted a landmark decision on Biodiversity and Climate Change that made an important reference to biodiversity and climate nexus.  

• Decision 16/22 urges parties to consider integrating into their revised national biodiversity strategies and action plans and relevant national targets, as appropriate, and promoting, as appropriate, nature-based solutions and/or ecosystem-based approaches, non-market-based approaches and Mother Earth-centric actions, as recognized by some countries, to climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk reduction, and to promote synergies with other national planning processes established under biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements, as well as under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, in coordination with the focal points of other multilateral environmental agreements, as appropriate, including through national coordination, planning, review and reporting processes, as applicable, in a complementary and synergistic manner. 

• In addition, CBD COP Decision 15/4 on Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework emphasizes promotion of coherence, complementarity and cooperation between the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols, other biodiversity related conventions, and other relevant multilateral agreements and international institutions, respecting their mandates, creating opportunities for cooperation and partnerships among diverse actors to enhance implementation of the Framework. 

• Under the UNFCCC COP Decision (Decision B.17/04) and the Glasgow Work Programme on Action for Climate Empowerment (decision-/CP26) integrating climate education, training, public awareness, public participation, public access to information, and international cooperation into broader policy frameworks are well reflected 

• Lastly, the GEF Council Decision GEF/C.64/09 on enhancing Policy Coherence through GEF Operations stressed the importance of promoting coherence in environmental governance in the implementation or the realization of commitments under multilateral environmental agreements at the national level. 

• The role of science in informing policies and illustrating policy coherence in environmental governance in action is weaved into the decisions mentioned above and provides an impetus for this initiative. 

Objectives: 

• Strengthening whole-of-government approaches through improved cooperation and coordination among the focal points and other government experts on CBD and UNFCCC.
• Identification of the nexus areas and entry points when preparing the NDCs, NAPs and NBSAPs at the national level.
• Synergies to be promoted with other more theme/sector-specific strategies and action plans, such as those related to food systems, disaster management, and also connected to climate change and biodiversity-related aspects. 

• Participants from Pacific countries will identify key entry points for promoting synergies in how they tackle climate change mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity, along with finance and capacity building, to implement their revised NBSAPs and NDCs under the GEF Early Action Support Programme and the relevant UNEP-projects managed by UNEP Law Division.  

• Serve as a platform for national NDC and NBSAP focal points to discuss how uptake of scientific information and policy coherence approaches can be used to inform national policymaking processes that look at the climate and nature nexus in a coherent, holistic, and synergistic manner.  

• Utilize the outcomes of the workshop to further develop training materials and tools for supporting countries in implementation based on the feedback of the participants and through compilation of the best-practices on cooperation among the focal points across the two conventions. 

Expected Outcomes: 

• Participants will gain increased understanding and awareness of areas where policy coherence can be improved by jointly examining the NBSAPs and NDC preparation processes. 

• Increased practical understanding of how the synergies and interlinkages between biodiversity and climate clusters could be promoted at the national level through strengthening interinstitutional coordination and collaboration across the national focal points for CBD and UNFCCC.  To complete the Rio Conventions, we may want to consider some connection with UNCCD. A number of Pacific SIDS are parties to UNCCD, and nexus areas such as food systems, NBS, ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA,), to name a few, are also strongly linked with UNCCD. 

• Increase awareness of the importance of integrating national climate and biodiversity targets into other sectoral plans. It is also anticipated that the discussions will facilitate regional peer learning and encourage the establishment of new partnerships among countries based on their exchanges on best practices and lessons learnt to address challenges in preparing the national reports on biodiversity and climate change. 

• Gather insights on the role of Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme technical and scientific cooperation support centre for the Convention on Biological Diversity and how existing resources can be leveraged to support capacity building in the Pacific region.  

• Identify priority needs of the Pacific SIDS in implementing CBD, UNFCCC and other relevant MEAs in a coherent way through ensuring synergies and how regional partners can collectively support countries in addressing those needs and priorities.