Human Rights in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

This document is offered as a discussion paper to support the integration of human rights into the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. It recognises that land tenure security and recognition of tenure rights is a key plank in addressing biodiversity loss, along with supporting the systems of governance and knowledge that enable biodiversity management and protection.

We believe that human rights and a healthy planet are mutually dependent. To have a safe, clean and healthy environment, we have to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. To realise our human rights, we must heal, protect and sustainably live on our planet. We see that human cultures, particularly of Indigenous peoples and local communities, contain diverse worldviews, values, ethics and spiritual beliefs that can embody and guide our reciprocal relationships with the rest of the planet. To secure biological diversity, we must recognise and protect the the cultural diversity that sustains and maintains it.

This document is offered as a discussion paper to support the integration of human rights into the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. It recognises that land tenure security and recognition of tenure rights is a key plank in addressing biodiversity loss, along with supporting the systems of governance and knowledge that enable biodiversity management and protection.

Here we collate and present key human rights-related language that is being proposed for the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The document presents and displays the many ways in which current text under negotiation could be enriched and improved through the integration of human rights concerns.