Biodiversity offers variability amongst the world’s living things. According to McGraw (2017), biodiversity remains to be a key foundation of the many ecosystem services that fundamentally contribute to the well-being of humans. Notably, the decisions we make, affect in a great way biodiversity in the world. Following this, the United Nations in 1992 drafted a multilateral treaty for the development of international strategies for the conservation as well as sustainable use of the world’s biological diversity. The whole idea about the Convention of Biodiversity was conceived following the drafting of a legal text which addressed conservation as well as the use of the world’s biodiversity (Rosendal, 2013). Sharing of the benefits that emanate from the utilization of the biological diversity amongst the local communities was also quoted in the legal text.
How the Convention on Biodiversity Functions
The functioning of the convention is based on the realization of biodiversity as a global concern and an integral process of development. Following this, the agreement put into consideration all species, ecosystems, as well as genetic resources linking the traditional conservation efforts to the global economic goal of sustainable biological use (McGraw, 2017). Become among the partisan members of the convention; nations are obliged to implement the provisions of the treaty. While past efforts aimed at protection of specific habitats and species, the CBD takes into consideration ecosystems, genes, and species to be part of human benefit. The ecosystem approach by the CBD offers an integrated strategy and action framework for the global management of natural resources (Rosendal, 2013). On the other edge, the precautionary principle enshrined in the CBD enlightens on the significant threat of reduction and loss of biodiversity. The lack of scientific certainty has been dismissed as a reason for the postponement of biodiversity protection measures.
Objectives of the Convention on Biodiversity
The Convention on Biodiversity has three major objectives. The first objective is the conservation of the biological diversity present in the world. The second objective is the sustainable use of every single component of the earth’s biological diversity. This is both for the benefit of the current and future generations to come, ensuring that biological diversity is still present even after years to come (Balmford et al., 2005). The third and last objective is the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits that arise from the exploitation of biological diversity in every nation. Through this, economic and social development can be achieved thanks to poverty eradication by the equitable sharing of the biodiversity’ exploitation benefits. Notably, the three objectives have been key in the formulation of the commitments and systems to achieve biodiversity for the entire world.