The Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework sets out an ambitious pathway to reach the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050. Yet, its implementation and effect are dependent on national and regional execution, and civil society organizations play an indispensable role in ensuring this.

By harnessing the expertise of Nordic CSOs across various thematic areas, we aim to develop cohesive policy recommendations to drive ambitious KMF implementation across the Nordic region, nationally as well as globally through international cooperation. The policy recommendations will be gathered in a publication to be delivered to the Nordic governments in the lead up to COP16 in Colombia in October 2024. Register here to receive updates on opportunities to engage.

How can you participate?

Send in your policy recommendations by May 26th
By partaking in the project your organization has the opportunity to contribute to creating joint Nordic policy recommendations that will be published by the Nordic Council of Ministers and delivered to the Nordic governments. The policy recommendations can either target national implementation, international implementation, or both. The contributions from the organizations will be compiled in a draft that will be circulated for comments from the thematic working groups.

The deadline for organizations to send in their policy recommendations is 26th of May, and the recommendations can be sent as a Word-file or Google-document to ane@forumfor.no.

There will be a process for organizations to actively sign on to the publication after finalization to ensure that organizations only will be held accountable for policies they support.

Thematic working groups
By joining a thematic working group, you will get the opportunity to both create policy recommendations on a specific target in the KMF in collaboration with Nordic colleagues and comment on the first draft. If interested, you will also get the opportunity to play an important part in ensuring that your thematic area is reflected holistically throughout the joint policy brief. The thematic working groups will communicate via Google-groups. Below you will find an updated list of the groups:

• Agriculture
• Area planning and land use overall
• Aquaculture and fisheries
• Climate and biodiversity
• Consumption and ecological footprint
• Digital sequencing information
• Forestry
• Gender equality, participation, human rights and indigenous rights
• Marine ecosystems
• Resource mobilization, subsidies, business and investments
• Restoration
• Urban biodiversity

Nordic Conference
Participate in a Nordic conference in Oslo, Norway the 27th to 28th of August 2024, tailored for civil society stakeholders, including representatives from youth networks and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) engaged in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This is a unique opportunity to meet up with Nordic colleagues and discuss relevant issues, including the final draft of the joint policy brief before the sign-on process. Please see the preliminary conference program here and register for the conference here.

Communication channels
In order to facilitate communication and information sharing, we have established Google-group lists for each of the thematic groups as well as one for the project as a whole for the more overarching information exchange. If you want to join one of the thematic groups but did not register your interest when registering, you can contact ane@forumfor.no to receive invitation links. 

Workload
This project has a large degree of flexibility when it comes to the workload you are expected to put in, in order to facilitate participation across capacity levels. It is possible to be on the lists and receive information and updates, send in policy recommendations or take actively part in one or more thematic groups. If you commit to contribute to a joint policy recommendation from your thematic group, this will require more work than if you are only in the loop to receive information. Hence, it is difficult to provide a concrete estimate of workload. As with most broad collaborations, your footprint on the final result will likely be larger the more time you invest.

Network meeting on NBSAP (National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans)
By the upcoming Conference of the Parties, COP16, parties to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) are expected to submit national action plans (NBSAPs). You can read more about this on the CBD Secretariat website. The different Nordic countries have different approaches to this process, and the civil society organizations have different experiences in trying to influence the commitments to national implementation. We are inviting the network to a meeting on the NBSAPs in the Nordic countries, with briefings on the process in the different countries, the 5th of June from 13.30-14.30. We will share more information and the meeting link closer to the meeting. Please reach out to the project team if you wish to contribute in the briefing.

Project Timeline:

• 26 May: Last opportunity for organizations to send in your policy recommendations
• 2 June: Last opportunity for the working groups to send in joint policy recommendations
• 5 June: Network meeting on NBSAP the 5th of June from 13.30-14.30 (CEST)
• 5 June: The first draft will be shared with the thematic working groups for concrete feedback
• 19 June: Deadline for the thematic working groups to give concrete feedback on the first draft
• June/July: The second draft will be shared with the participants in the project for feedback
• 18 August: Last opportunity for the participants in the project to provide feedback on the second draft
• 27-28 August: Joint Nordic Effort for Biodiversity Conference in Oslo, Norway
• 21 October – 1 November: COP16 in Cali, Colombia