Global goals need local actions and responsibilities
Solutions to global challenges often start locally, amongst people. The global agreements offer a framework expressing the ambitions that can be agreed on by member states of the UN system. The framework does pinpoint the responsibilities of the states, what are the goals and the actions at government level that needs to be taken.
However, experiences tell us, that in order to be successful, a certain translation of the global frameworks need to be undertaken to link the global goals with local actions and solutions in communities, in civil society, in municipalities, in business, in education etc.
Conservation – conservation of natural and bio-cultural diversity Development – support for sustainable economic and social development and cultural diversity Logistic support - support and promotion of model projects, training, and education for sustainable development at the local level, while taking into account national and global scales.
Local Hubs for sustainable development
The Man and the Biosphere (MAB) was initiated in 1971 as a program and tool to create model areas where the interaction between mankind and the nature could be studied. From initially being a top-down program, the development in the program in recent years has given room for strong bottom-up initiatives. Thus, the program offers an excellent frame to emphasize and catalyze local solutions to the global challenges.
Given its holistic approach and local anchoring the MAB program and the biosphere reserves holds the potential to be strong hubs for sustainable development, addressing the global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
Local Actions for Climate solutions and the Sustainable Development Goals
UNESCO’s MAB Programme aims to enhance the relationship between people and their environments by playing a key role to achieve the Paris Agreement on Climate and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It does so by combining the natural and social sciences in order to promote innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate, and climate and environmentally sustainable. These approaches can be replicated in various parts of the world.
Spanning over 5% of the world's surface in 134 countries and covering all ecosystems, in both urban and rural settings, biosphere reserves are natural 'learning places for sustainable development'. In their own contexts, they have been implementing projects that address each goal and target of Agenda 2030 in creative and innovative ways.
Hoping these good practices, experiences and lessons learned can inspire others, the MAB Programme made a call for stories, projects, and initiatives from biosphere reserves. Please investigate examples of Good Practices of Local Actions for the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
The biodiversity agreement in 2022 known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is a very comprehensive document containing the whole range of actions for global biodiversity – much more than actions for protected areas (where the goal is 30%). The ambition is that by 2050 our shared vision of living in harmony with nature is fulfilled. This vision will cause big changes at many levels and require that the diversity of collaboration and actions extends. This fits very well with the MAB Programme.
The agreement aligns well with the MAB Programme's goals, emphasizing transformative change involving the entire society. Biosphere reserves can serve as hubs for implementing the agreement, influencing the needed transformation.
Source: https://www.cbd.int/gbf
The Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme has laid the scientific foundation for a new harmony between humans and their environment – one that reconciles conservation and development and teaches us how to live with the living world in the living world, rather than at its expense.Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCOSource: www.unesco.org/en/mab/about