83rd UNEP/UNESCO/BMU International Short Course on Restoration towards Green Recovery

Duration: 01 November - 10 December 2021 (Online Course)

Relevance
Only six out of the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets for 2020 have been partially achieved, as recently confirmed by Global Biodiversity Outlook 5. Forest and land degradation is estimated to cost the world more than US$6.3 trillion a year—equivalent to 8.3 percent of global GDP in 2016—and jeopardizes the livelihoods of half a billion people who depend on forests and land resources. Restoring degraded forests generates an estimated $7–30 in economic benefits for every dollar invested. Despite this favourable benefit-cost ratio, funding for landscape restoration falls short by about $300 billion a year. International attention has now turned to the global biodiversity agenda for 2020 onwards, and the year 2021 marks the beginning of the new UN decade on ecosystem restoration. To successfully implement the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework, several of priorities will have to change. Financing mechanisms will be needed for investment in biodiversity, in the same way, that mainstream finance drives the rest of the economy. Promising trends towards sustainable finance, impact investment and responsible consumption and production must be strengthened to bring them out of niche activities and make a significant impact. It will also be necessary to customize and redesign financial instruments to ensure that investment plans are evaluated for their potential risk to nature, and to create incentives for biodiversity-friendly investment into value chains.

Financial institutions show a growing commitment for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, as evidenced by the “Finance for Biodiversity Pledge” led by 26 financial institutions at the Biodiversity Summit of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2020, and are starting to integrate biodiversity aspects into their products, as the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services also poses significant risks for them. In addition to loss of reputation and legal risks associated with investments in companies that damage biodiversity, there are also credit and yield losses when economically important ecosystem services are no longer sufficiently available: More than three-quarters of the most important plants for food production are at least partially dependent on animal pollination (IPBES, 2016). The global cost of invasive insects is estimated to be at least USD 70 billion annually (Bradshaw et al., 2016).

The conditions for mainstreaming biodiversity into the finance sector have changed, as the COVID-19 crisis – and the worldwide call for transforming our societies and economies through green recovery and green reconstruction – changed the setting. There is a risk that the challenges faced by economies and societies, as they recover from COVID-19, will lead to reduced attention towards biodiversity by the government and to reduced spending for environmental topics due to lower state revenues. However, there are also positive examples of governments that have committed to “build forward better”. With the “One Health” approach, COVID-19 has brought attention to the linkages between biodiversity, health and human wellbeing. It is crucial to mainstream biodiversity into the financial sector for a sustainable recovery and link COVID-19 response measures to financial incentives for a biodiversity-friendly future.

Course concept and objectives
In line with SDG 15 (life on land) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the course contributes to building up capacities to monitor ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss and its consequences for ecosystem resilience and human livelihoods. The advanced training course addresses aspects of biodiversity conservation, agri-food systems, adequate legal provisions, robust political requirements and suitable technologies for ecosystem restoration in a holistic anthropocentric view. Course emphases include a sound understanding of the role of biodiversity for ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services (such as pollination) and goods (One-Health approach), and will discuss case studies on different restoration approaches in different biomes and socio-ecological systems.

In this context, the course also will address SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production) which is central to achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Consumption and production of all goods and services require the transformation of many natural resources, which in turn affects biodiversity. The production and extraction of agricultural goods, forest products, energy, and minerals alter landscapes and natural systems across the planet and support the livelihoods of billions of people. These land-use decisions are driven in large part by local and distant consumer behaviour and preferences. Therefore, efforts under SDG 12 have a central role to play in developing land restoration strategies that acknowledge the complexity and interconnectedness of resource availability and demand in order to effectively address the critical drivers of land-use change.

For the most effective implementation of the SDGs, a holistic and cross‐sectoral approach to foster bio‐based solutions is crucial. Accelerating work in this area is a key requirement for sustainable development. This part of the course will, referring to bio-based solutions, deal with sustainable consumption and production patterns along the entire value chain, with increasing resource efficiency and ultimately with decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation. Particular attention will be paid to the question of how to reduce the economic reliance on inefficient and destructive measures, and how to achieve sustainable development through the sustainable use of biodiversity’s economic potential.

Part three of the course will deal with aligning stimulus or other economic packages to avoid post COVID-19 lock-in effects in non-sustainable structures. The course will give a better understanding about the impact of green recovery measures (“Build Back Better”) on employment, economic growth, and social inequality and give an insight how to incorporate specific policies into tax and macro-financial packages. Successful participants are awarded a Certificate of Proficiency in Ecosystem Restoration towards a Green Recovery.

Participants will also develop a post-training action plan (PTAP) for a challenge in their field of work, applying the course contents and considering inspiration received from facilitators and fellows during the course. This plan shall be implemented autonomously upon return and facilitate the transfer of the newly acquired knowledge into the day-to-day activities.

Target groups
This course is aimed at management experts who prepare and implement political decisions and practical measures in ministries, authorities, local government and non-governmental institutions of developing countries (including newly industrialised economies) working on the sustainable use of natural resources and green recovery.

We expect a high motivation to explore concepts for ecosystem restoration and green recovery and work towards implementing them. A first university degree (e.g. BA, BSc) in a related field (e.g. geology, geography, environmental sciences, forestry, agriculture, environmental economy, political science, planning, or sustainable development) is essential. Adequate communication skills in the English language and the nomination by the delegating institution are mandatory.

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