Nature Knows No Borders : Transboundary Cooperation - a Key Factor for Biodiversity Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use

Encourages the use of economic models in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication that are aimed at accelerating inclusive and sustainable economic growth and improving human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental degradation and risks and natural resource scarcities, as a means of contributing to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals;

Encourages Member States, and invites international organizations and other relevant stakeholders, to contribute to the implementation of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030);

Encourages Member States and international organizations and other relevant stakeholders to emphasize the importance of protecting vulnerable ecosystems and their connectivity, to contribute to the development and adoption of approaches and initiatives for transboundary cooperation, at appropriate levels, for the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity, maintaining and enhancing ecosystem services, and to participate in such endeavours, as appropriate;

Encourages Member States to maintain and enhance connectivity of habitats, including but not limited to those of protected species and those relevant for the provision of ecosystem services, including through increasing the establishment of transboundary protected areas, as appropriate, and ecological corridors based on the best available scientific data, in accordance with international law and national legislation, and to promote initiatives to strengthen the already existing ones and improve their effective management and other effective area-based conservation measures, thereby contributing to the maintenance of their functioning;

Encourages Member States, and invites international organizations and other relevant stakeholders, to integrate and apply ecosystem-based approaches and to include such nature-based solutions in plans and policies, as appropriate for biodiversity, climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk reduction, in order to achieve co-benefits for climate change adaptation and mitigation with biodiversity conservation, restoration and sustainable use;

Urges Member States, and invites international organizations, international financial institutions and other relevant stakeholders, to increase cooperation at appropriate levels, including transboundary cooperation, collaboration and synergies on biodiversity conservation, restoration and sustainable use, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources;

Invites the Secretary-General, within existing resources, to provide information to the General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session on the implementation of the present resolution, as part of his report to be submitted under the sub-item entitled “Convention on Biological Diversity” of the item entitled “Sustainable development”.