Biodiversity and Health

Activities and Meetings

The ‘One Health approach’ evolving landscape

One Health, among other holistic approaches such as EcoHealth and Planetary Health, recognizes that human health is intimately connected to the health of the planet, all living beings, ecosystems, our shared environment, and relevant systemic drivers. While there is no universal definition, One Health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “an approach to designing and implementing programmes, policies, legislation and research in which multiple sectors communicate and work together to achieve better public health outcomes” and by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as “a cross-cutting and systemic approach to health based on the fact that human health and animal health are interdependent and linked to the health of the ecosystems in which they co-exist”.

Globally, One Health approaches have gained traction, however the issue of zoonoses and human–animal interactions have received a larger attention than environmental dimensions, which are acknowledged as the weakest and need to be strengthened. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the “build back better” agenda, there is a growing momentum on environmental components of One Health, as illustrated by the joining of UNEP to the Tripartite consisting of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), as well as the establishment of a One Health High-level Expert Panel (OHHLEP) which comprises expert from various disciples, including from the environmental sector.

Given the evolving One Health landscape and building on this momentum, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological diversity continues to facilitate awareness of biodiversity and health linkages and works closely with its partners, including UNEP, FAO, OIE and WHO as well as other multilateral environmental agreements, with a view to contributing to those ongoing initiatives and promoting a biodiversity-inclusive One Health approach.

The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity is also a member of the newly-established WHO-IUCN Expert Working Group on Biodiversity, Climate, One Health and Nature-based Solutions, established in March 2021. The Expert Working Group builds upon and expands the scope of work carried out by the Inter-agency Liaison Group on biodiversity and health, co-chaired by WHO and the Convention on Biological Diversity between 2015 and 2020.

EARLIER MEETINGS

15th World Congress on Public Health

2-7 April 2017, Melbourne, Australia

The CBD Secretariat in collaboration with WHO, IUCN and other partners are participating in the World Leadership Forum at the 15th World Congress on Public Health to highlight the benefits of exposure to nature and biodiversity to human health. The plenary session organized by Parks Victoria, Australia Nature is Good Medicine will be preceded by a workshop session featuring presentations and discussions with stakeholders. The sessions will be held on 4 April 2017.

This collaborative effort follows up on themes covered in the WHO-CBD led Summary of the State of Knowledge Review, Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health which was officially launched on 13 February 2015 at the 14th World Congress on Public Health.


Relevant documents and links

View the Session Summary and panelists for the Global Leadership Forum Nature is Good Medicine

More information on the World Congress on Public Health 2017 available here


Biodiversity and Health at the CBD 13th Conference of the Parties

3-17 December 2016, Cancun, Mexico

Relevant documents and links

  • Collaborative and Mainstreaming Activities on Biodiversity and Human Health submitted for COP 13 is available here

  • Summary of all side events on biodiversity and human health at COP 13 is available here

  • Side event on Bridging the Science Policy Gap for Biodiversity and Human Health available here

Health side events at the Rio Conventions Pavilion

IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016

1-10 September 2016 in Hawaii, USA

The Theme for the Congress in 2016, held at 5 year intervals, is Planet at a Crossroads.

The CBD Secretariat is contributing to several events at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress to be held from 1 to 10 of September 2016 in Hawaii, USA. Among them, the CBD Secretariat in collaboration with UNU-IIGH, EcoHealth Alliance, TRAFFIC International and other partners, led a two hour sessions on Integrating conservation, sustainable development and health. The session aimed to stimulate debate on the most pressing conservation issues of our time by addressing critical knowledge generated at these intersections, including in the WHO-CBD led publication Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health, and engaging in meaningful dialogue with stakeholders.


Relevant documents and links

Second Global Conference on Health and Climate

7-8 July 2016, Paris, France

The Paris Agreement, adopted on 12 December 2015, marks the beginning of a new era in the global response to climate change. The world now has a global climate agreement - that will have a major public health policy impact as countries take action. As stated in the agreement, “the right to health”, will be central to the actions taken. To build on this historic opportunity, WHO, and the Government of France, holding the Presidency of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, jointly hosted the Second Global Conference on Health and Climate under the theme “Building Healthier Societies through implementation of the Paris Agreement”.

For this Global Conference, on 8 July 2016, WHO, in collaboration with the CBD Secretariat, the International Union for Nutritional Sciences and UN Environment, co-hosted a special dialogue session on Sustainable Food Systems, Nutrition and Health.

In line with the findings of the WHO-CBD State of Knowledge Review, the dialogue session provided an opportunity to discuss strategies to foster pragmatic, scalable and inter-disciplinary policy solutions fostering biodiversity, health and food and nutrition security and supporting the implementation of the Paris Agreement, the ICN2 commitments, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and the Sustainable Development Goals. It also enabled participants to identify pathways for collaboration, convening platforms and accountability mechanisms to bring together governments, academia, NGOs and other stakeholders to contribute to the transition towards sustainable and healthy food systems in line with the Climate agenda, the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Relevant documents and links

dialogue session on Sustainable Food Systems, Nutrition and Health.

The program, relevant videos and documents are also available here.

ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity 2016

15-19 February 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand

Linkages between biodiversity and human health to be recognized at the ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity 2016 from 15-19 February 2016. The programme includes a full day of Parallel Special Thematic Sessions on biodiversity and health to be held on 17 February 2016 organized in collaboration with United Nations University.

Relevant documents and links

14th World Congress on Public Health

11-15 February 2015, Calcutta, India

The SUMMARY of the state of knowledege review, Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health was launched on 13 February 2015 at the 14th World Congress on Public Health.

Relevant documents and links:

Fifteenth Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA)

19-23 January 2015, Rome, Italy

At the 15th regular session of the CGRFA held in Rome, CBD Executive Secretary, Dr. Braulio Dias discussed the links between biodiversity, nutrition and human health including relevant key messages contained in the forthcoming state of knowledege review, Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health. Dr. Dias delivered a keynote presentations at a side event on 20 January 2015, on Mainstreaming biodiversity for improved human nutrition and well-being. A summary of the side event is available below.

Relevant documents and links (biodiversity, nutrition, and human health)

World Parks Congress 2014

12-19 November 2014 Sydney, Australia

The final consultation for Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health, a State of Knowledge Review was held at IUCN World Parks Congress (WPC) from 12-19 November 2014.

Relevant documents and links:

CBD-WHO collaborative activities highlighted at WPC

On 14 November 2014, in a video statement for a WPC event announcing the final consultation and forthcoming launch of the State of Knowledge Review, the World Health Organization highlighted the strengthening of collaborative activities with the CBD and noted the importance of biodiversity and ecosystems for human health and well-being. Watch the video below!

WHO_videostatement_neira_final.jpg

CBD 12th Conference of the Parties

6-17 October 2014, Pyeongchang, Korea

Relevant documents and links

  • The COP 12 Official document on biodiversity and human health is available here

  • Summary of side events on biodiversity and human health is available here

  • Side event on drivers for disease emergence and One Health available here

  • The advanced draft thematic chapters of Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health, a State of Knowledge Review are available here

Expert Meeting for the state of knowledge review, Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health

Bioversity International headquarters, Rome, Italy, 1-3 July 2014

An expert meeting, convened in collaboration with the World Health Organization and with lead authors of the state of knowledge review was held at the headquarters of Bioversity International in Rome. Key partners and lead authors attended the meeting to review peer review comments received on emerging key messages and to finalize the preparation of the first draft of the thematic chapters of the State of Knowledege Review, also to be made available for peer review, prior to the 12th Conference of the Parties.

Relevant documents and links

Updates from partners

Biodiversity and Community Health Initiative update on first expert meeting and CBD-WHO collaborative activities

Health and Biodiversity at SBSTTA 18

Montreal, Canada, 23- 28 October, 2014

Relevant documents and links

Preparatory Meeting on the state of knowledge review on Biodiversity and Human Health

14-16 January 2014, WHO headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland

The first scoping meeting for the preparation of a state of knowledge review on biodiversity and human health was co-convened by the CBD Secretariat and the World Health Organization in collaboration with key partners. The meeting was held at WHO headquarters from 14-16 January 2014 in an effort to identify key thematic areas and issues to be addressed in the forthcoming state of knowledge review on biodiversity and human health. A full draft outline of the publication was also prepared and potential lead authors were identified at the meeting.

Relevant links

  • A summary of recent CBD-WHO collaboration as well as a summary of the expert meeting and additional are available here

Health and Biodiversity at COP 11

Hyderabad, India, 8 - 19 October, 2012

Relevant documents and links

EcoHealth 2012 Conference

Kunming, China, 15 - 18 October, 2012

The CBD Secretariat connected live to the EcoHealth 2012 Conference held in Kunming, China. In a discussion forum entitled Global Processes, Linking Ecology and Health: What role for Ecohealth

Relevant links

PAHO / WHO Joint Seminar with the Institute of Medicine (IOM / NRC)

Understanding the Post-2015 Development Agenda Process: Opportunities and Challenges that Lie Ahead

18 October 2012, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm EDT (Online)

Relevant links

First workshop on interlinkages between human health and biodiversity

2 April, 2012, WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland

Relevant Documents