The world is approaching the midpoint of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) targets, and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Rapid acceleration is needed to turn commitments into action to achieve the Global Biodiversity Framework’s ambition of bringing 30% of degraded ecosystems worldwide under effective restoration (Target 2) as well as living up to countries’ existing promises of restoring 1 billion hectares worldwide within the timeframe of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Restoration needs to include all ecosystems – from the bottom of the ocean to the peaks of mountains, from forests to farmlands and from cities to savannahs.

What do we need for this rapid transition to happen?

• A global restoration movement determined to make peace with nature.
• Policies and enabling conditions that address economic and socio-cultural barriers and increase the sustainability of restoration interventions in the long term.
• Coordinated action across hundreds of partners to accelerate implementation at scale.
• Effective participation by those affected by restoration, elevating the representation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, youth and academia.
• Short and long-term finance from public and private sources to support restoration implementation.
• Stopping perverse incentives, subsidies, investments and production & consumption patterns that drive ecosystem degradation.
• Technical guidance on effective restoration to maximize benefits and de-risk investments, and ensure we are not wasting time and funds.
• Knowledge and technology transfer, including through regional and subregional restoration centers, to place countries in the center of knowledge and experience sharing.
• Transparent monitoring of restoration and improved data across various ecosystems to track progress and make the right restoration decisions.

This high-level opening session will set the stage by highlighting ecosystem restoration as a shared agenda between the three Rio Conventions and the need to overcome fragmentation in restoration policy, to implement commitments in NBSAPs and national targets.

Moderator:  Khalil Walji, CIFOR-ICRAF

Speakers: Ministers and high-level representatives of the CBD Secretariat, UNEP, FAO, heads of organizations, leading voices from Indigenous Peoples, academia, the private sector & more.