Japan: Honest, but optimistic, opening statement by Ahmed Djoghlaf

19.10.10

As 16,000 representatives from more than 190 countries gather in Nagoya, Japan for one of the most important meetings in history, the man in charge of keeping the good ship biodiversity afloat has issued an opening statement.

Ahmed Djoghlaf is the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In his statement Djoghlaf admits there have been failures and "that we continue to lose biodiversity at an unprecedented rate" that is "up to one thousand times higher than the background and historical rate of extinction."

But despite these worrying symptoms Djoghlaf remains cautiously optimistic and maintains that "business as usual is no more an option for mankind. Business as usual is therefore not an option on the agenda of your meeting today."

Read Ahmed Djoghlag's full statement (pdf)

18.10.10

Seventeen years after the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered the vocabulary of conservationists the world over more than 190 nations are gathered in Nagoya, Japan for the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10).