Side Event

The Biosphere Ethics Initiative: incorporating environmental ethics into law, governance and policy

Organizer
Center for Humans and Nature

Date and Time
21 October 2010 13:15 - 14:45

Meeting
Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 10)

The Biosphere Ethics Initiative (BEI) is a soft law program of the volunteer-driven Ethics Specialist Group of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law, led by the non-profit organization Center for Humans and Nature, with strong support from the IUCN Comite francais, the Paris nationale Museum d'Histoire naturelle, the South African Department of Environment and Tourism and the Department of Citizenship and Socio-Environmental Reponsibility of the Environment Ministry of Brazil. The aim is to incorporate ethical principles of biodiversity conservation into law, governance and policy. The Initiative is a multi-disciplinary program that consists of the evolving Biosphere Ethic; the Annex (which develops the program's main themes); and the Action Plan. The Convention on Biological Diversity serves as the hard law foundation of the project, and the Earth Charter as the soft law foundation. The event will cover the background to the Initiative and address specific ways that CBD member states and interested organizations can incorporate the BEI into national and organizational policies and programs, including but not limited to National Biodiversity Stategies. The ethical principles of the BEI are a result of Relatos, or mutual learning experiences, from communities of practice, and informed by the most up-to-date scientific understanding. Background documents can be found at www.humansandnature.org.