Convention on Biological Diversity: Draft recommendation to focus on One Health approach, COVID-19

Published: 31st Mar, 2022

Context

A draft recommendation on ‘biodiversity and health’ was released during the Convention on Biological Diversity 2022.

About

About Convention on Biological Diversity Geneva Meetings (March 2022):

It was held physically after two years in
The two-week-long event invited the quadripartite consisting of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and UNEP, to address the need and provide guidance for the One Health approach.
The definition of One Health as per the One Health High-level Expert Panel is yet to be discussed or agreed upon by the Convention and its Protocols.

Highlights from draft recommendation on ‘biodiversity and health’:

The draft defined ‘One Health’ as, an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems.
The One Health approach mobilises multiple sectors, disciplines and communities at varying levels of society to work together to foster well-being and tackle threats to health and ecosystems, while addressing the collective need for clean water, energy and air, safe and nutritious food, taking action on climate change, and contributing to sustainable development.
The quadripartite will contribute to other efforts to establish and address the link between biodiversity and health. These include:
Capacity-building
Technology transfer
Resource mobilisation opportunities for mainstreaming biodiversity and health linkages
Outlining health indicators to be monitored under the framework
The draft addressed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, well-being and biodiversity.
The draft outlined ways to reduce pathogen spill over and outbreak of infections.
It highlighted the importance of early warning; surveillance and prompt information sharing for pandemic prevention; preparedness and response; and the need to address inequities in global health, including with respect to equal and equitable access to medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and medical equipment.
It encouraged involved parties as well as national and state governments to weave in the One Health approach in their COVID-19 recovery plan.

About Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) came into force on 29 December 1993. It has three main objectives:
- Biodiversity conservation.
- Sustainable use of biodiversity components.
- Equitable and equitable distribution of benefits from the use of genetic resources.
The Convention was unveiled on June 5, 1992 at the Rio “Earth Summit”.
This agreement is a legally binding agreement approved by 180 countries.
The CBD Secretariat is based in Montreal, Canada and operates under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program.
Areas of legal responsibility are biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of natural resources and equal sharing of benefits from their sustainable use.
The conference came into effect in 1993. Many biological problems are being addressed, including the conservation of habitats, intellectual property rights, environmental safety and the rights of indigenous peoples.
It has two supplementary agreements, the Cartagena Protocol and Nagoya Protocol.
- Cartagena Protocol: It is an international treaty governing the movements of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another.
- Nagoya Protocol: It deals with Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS).

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