The thirteenth meeting of the biennial “Conference of the Parties” (COP) was part of the UN Biodiversity Convention and was held in December 2016 in Cancun, Mexico. The developments being pursued with regard to the realisation of the “Aichi Biodiversity Targets” as well as the Nagoya Protocol as part of the “Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020”, were central issues. The debate focused on the expansion of protected areas, the capacity building of member states, the combination of climate and biodiversity protection, as well as the management of the process of geoengineering. Mainly, member states demanded a pursuit of biodiversity conservation as a socioeconomic and ecological endeavour, which shall secure and promote human well-being.

As a result, a so-called “mainstreaming” of biodiversity was agreed upon, meaning its protection and sustainable use shall be generally included in politics and economics as a cross-sectional aim and shall be, furthermore, linked more closely with additional climate goals such as sustainable development. In the political realm, an increase in the intensity of the connection with goals of other international treatises and institutions of the United Nations was resolved. In the economic sectors of fishing, tourism, agriculture and forestry, a transition into sustainable economic systems which conserve biodiversity and thus cultivate human well-being, was concluded. For example, pollinator populations and fish stocks are to be protected, thus conserving biodiversity and securing food for a growing world population. In addition, an action plan to support the capacity building concerning the realisation of the convention and its protocols was passed. The next Conference of the Parties (COP 14) will take place in Egypt in 2018.