The 2010 UN-Year on Biodiversity – A Legal Retrospect

Seventeen years after the convention entered into force, more than 180 states are party to the CBD.1 The convention could be referred to as a milestone in international law because, for the first time, the conservation of biological diversity was recognised as being a common concern and an integral part of the development of humankind by binding international law, with a commitment to its implementation by the parties. In May 2010, the third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook confirmed that species are continually being driven to extinction, at up to 1,000 times the natural rate. Based on 120 national reports from CBD parties and on the scientific literature, the Global Biodiversity Outlook warns that further massive loss of biodiversity is projected to occur before the end of this century and that ecosystems are approaching the point beyond which irreversible degradation will take place (tipping points), with terrible consequences for human welfare.2 The report also acknowledges that the world community failed to achieve the 2010 Biodiversity Target agreed in 2002, which had aimed to significantly reduce the loss of biodiversity by 2010.