On 2 and 3 December 2016, the Luxembourg Minister for the Environment, Carole Dieschbourg, took part in the high-level segment preceding the United Nations’ Conference on Biological Diversity (COP13).
The Minister for the Environment, Carole Dieschbourg attended the high-level segment before the UN’s biological diversity conference (COP13) which will take place between 4 and 17 December 2016 in Cancun, Mexico.
The high-level segment emphasised the integration of biodiversity in all sectors in order to reflect that this is essential for human well-being, adaptation and mitigation to climate change and for sustainable development.
In her speech during the ministerial discussions on the integration of biodiversity in the sectors of food and agriculture, Minister Carole Dieschbourg insisted that: “Political coherence is crucial to advance. In this context, it will be important to put in place objective 3 of the Aichi strategic plan, namely the elimination of subsidies which harm the environment.”
After addressing the sectors of agriculture, forestry, fishing and tourism, the ministers adopted the “Cancun declaration on the integration of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity for well-being” which aims to provide a strategic framework for political actions in the sector of the integration of biodiversity in every political sector.
Besides the COP13, Luxembourg co-signed the volunteers’ declaration for pollinisers along with Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Slovakia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. This agreement aims to emphasise the fundamental importance of pollinising insects to protect biodiversity.
