We need to talk about Kevin

There are times in life when my northern-ness overtakes my autism, most markedly when talking to strangers.?I may not be very good at maintaining normal social interactions with people I actually know – the fact that I haven’t sent a Christmas card in ten years has more to do with the way December 25th just seems to creep up on me unawares, rather than a deliberate act of sustainability.?But, coming from Yorkshire, I was brought up to check in on neighbours, know the names of the checkout operators in my local supermarket, and to talk about the weather with strangers on the bus.?I’m not complaining – studies show that engaging in conversations with strangers has many positive health benefits including?increased happiness, a sense of belonging, decreased loneliness, and improved trust.?It’s this outlook on life that got me talking to Kevin, a border services agent at Montreal airport, when I arrived for COP15 earlier this month.?I know that officers in charge of border control are not typically chatty, so maybe it was the fact that he’d already met a thousand COP attendees that day that made him ask if I was planning on saving the world.?I said that, while I had no real influence, we’d certainly be doing our best to push for that and he replied “Great.?You tell them to do it for Kevin”.

He’s not wrong, of course. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework deal was done for Kevin.?I mean, Kevin, every other cute Canadian ‘every-guy’ and, well, everyone else.?That’s what so special about the agreement finalised in Montreal this week, it isn’t just an environment deal, of interest to enviro-nerds like me. ??It’s not ‘a bit more money for nature conservation’. It’s the start of a whole new way of doing business, of running our economies and of living.?This is the week we started on a journey towards an ecological civilization, securing the future for all life on earth.?So, signing the agreement wasn’t the end but the start of a rapid process of change if we are to meet our Kunming-Montreal obligations.

Governments at all levels will need to ensure that biodiversity is fully integrated into policies, regulations, spatial planning, environmental assessments and national accounting across all sectors.?This is finally recognition of the role of biodiversity foreshadowed in the Dasgupta review in 2021.?The new targets require governments to align all their activities and financial flows with the goals and targets of the Framework.?There is also work to do on the 30x30x30x30 targets – that’s managing 30% of land and sea areas for the benefit of biodiversity, plus restoring 30% of degraded land, by 2030, with $30bn of agreed funding.

The role of business has also been clarified too, with large and transnational companies and financial institutions required to regularly monitor, assess, and transparently disclose their risks, dependencies and impacts on biodiversity, including their supply chains and portfolios. Business needs adopt a ‘double materiality’ approach to progressively reduce negative impacts on biodiversity, increase positive impacts, reduce biodiversity-related risks to themselves, and promote actions to ensure sustainable patterns of production.?Consumers also need to be provided with the environmental data they need to make informed choices about what they buy and who they buy from.

So what of those consumers? Well, the parties have agreed to ensure that people are encouraged and enabled to make sustainable consumption choices including by establishing supportive policy, legislative or regulatory frameworks, improving education and access to relevant and accurate information and alternatives, and by 2030, reducing the global footprint of consumption in an equitable manner, including through halving global food waste, significantly reducing over-consumption and substantially reducing waste generation, in order for all people to live well in harmony with Mother Earth.

And if that’s not a recipe for a very happy new year in 2023, then I really don’t know what is.?So, I wish you all the very best of the festive season, and the link below is a small gift from me.?This accessible and light-hearted e-book sets out a few ideas for how we can all get a jump on our actions from the Kunming-Montreal agreement, in our home lives, at work, and through our elected representatives.?There’s a lot to be done in the next eight years, but if we act decisively, equitably, and together, we can do it.?For Kevin.

https://resources.rskgroup.com/view/1031244652/