Delivering the Global Biodiversity Framework in Practice: An EU-Southern Africa Dialogue on Human-Centered Conservation, Sustainable Use and Inclusive Biodiversity Governance
📆 Tuesday 13th October 2026, 08:30 – 10:30 CEST
📍Organised at the European Parliament, Brussels, Room TBC
In October 2026, governments from around the world will gather in Yerevan, Armenia for the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD. As the international community approaches the halfway point towards implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the focus is increasingly shifting from negotiating global commitments to demonstrating how they can be delivered in practice. Attention is now turning to the policies, partnerships and investments needed to achieve measurable biodiversity outcomes while supporting sustainable development and local livelihoods.
The EU plays a central role in this transition. Through its environmental legislation, international development cooperation, biodiversity finance and strategic partnerships, the EU is helping shape biodiversity policy and implementation both within Europe and globally. At the same time, Southern Africa is home to some of the world’s most important biodiversity and has developed internationally recognised approaches to natural resource management, sustainable use and human-centered conservation that offer valuable practical experience in implementing the GBF.
These experiences are particularly relevant to the implementation of GBF Target 5, which promotes the sustainable, legal and safe use of wild species; Target 9, which recognises the role of sustainable use in generating benefits for people while conserving biodiversity; and Target 22, which calls for the full, equitable, inclusive and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in biodiversity decision-making. Together, these targets recognise that long-term biodiversity conservation depends not only on protecting nature, but also on empowering the people who live alongside and steward it.
Despite these shared ambitions, there are relatively few opportunities for direct dialogue between European policymakers and those implementing conservation on the ground in biodiversity-rich countries. As a result, policies and funding decisions that affect conservation outcomes are not always informed by the practical realities, opportunities and challenges experienced by governments, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities responsible for managing biodiversity on a daily basis.
This dialogue seeks to address that gap by bringing together Members of the European Parliament, European Commission officials, Southern African governments, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, conservation practitioners and experts for a constructive exchange ahead of CBD COP17. The event will explore how stronger Africa-EU partnerships, evidence-based policymaking and greater inclusion of on-the-ground experience can support more effective implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework, with particular focus on human-centred conservation sustainable use and inclusive biodiversity governance.
DRAFT AGENDA
08:30 – 08:40: Welcome and opening remarks by MEP Michal Wiezik (Renew Europe)
08:40 – 08:55: Presentation on ‘The EU’s role in delivering the Global Biodiversity Framework internationally’ by Monika Hencsey, Director for Green Diplomacy & Multilateralism (Dir. F), DG ENV, European Commission (tbc)
08:55 – 09:05: Presentation on ‘The upcoming CBD COP 17 and priorities ahead’ by Bianca Brasil, Program Manager for Mainstreaming, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (tbc)
09:05 – 09:30: Intervention on ‘Implementing the GBF on the ground’ by:
- Prof Patience Gandiwa, Director International Conservation Affairs, ZimParks
- Lesle Jansen, Managing Director of the African Communities Resource Rights
Alliance (ACRRA)
09:30 – 09:40: Intervention on ‘Lessons from Southern Africa for implementing GBF Targets’ by Dr. Dilys Roe, Principal Researcher, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) & Chair, IUCN Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group (SULi)
09:40 – 10:00: Reactions by more Members of the European Parliament:
- MEP Cesar Luena (tbc)
- MEP Manuela Ripa (tbc)
- MEP Jutta Paulus (tbc)
- MEP Sergio Humberto (tbc)
- MEP Stefan Köhler (tbc)
- MEP Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (tbc)
- MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen (tbc)
- more MEPs (tbc)
10:00 – 10:25: Q&A session with the audience
10:25 – 10:30: Closing remarks by MEP Michal Wiezik (Renew Europe)
