The
Global Programme on Nature for Development brings together three different
initiatives – the Equator Initiative, the New York Declaration on Forests
Global Platform, and the National Biodiversity Initiative under one program in
order to identify, foster, showcase and celebrate nature-based solutions that
help achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at local, national,
and international levels. The work of the Global Programme on Nature for
Development contributes to UNDP's Strategic Plan 2018-2021 by charting
sustainable development pathways through the conservation, restoration and
sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystems; and by promoting
inclusive and effective democratic governance in the area of natural
resources.
The
Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil
society, businesses and grassroots organizations to recognize and advance
indigenous and local sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and
resilient communities. The Equator Initiative seeks to recognize the
success of local and indigenous initiatives; create opportunities and platforms
to share knowledge and good practice; inform policy to foster an enabling
environment for local and indigenous community action; and develop the capacity
of indigenous peoples and local communities to scale-up their impact.
The
Equator Initiative is built upon three equally important pillars:
- The Equator Prize is awarded
biennially to recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions for
people, nature, and resilient communities. As local and indigenous groups
across the world chart a path towards sustainable development, the
Equator Prize shines a spotlight on their efforts by honoring them on an
international stage.
- Equator Dialogues are
an ongoing series of community-driven meetings and exchanges, held in
conjunction with related international forums. Equator Dialogues provide
opportunities for people to share experiences, develop capacities, and influence
policy.
- Equator Knowledge is
a research, documentation, and learning program focused on local best practice
in sustainable development. The Equator Initiative works with partners to
identify, document, and analyze the success factors of local best practice, and
to catalyze ongoing peer-to-peer learning, knowledge exchange and replication
of best practice.
The
Global Platform for the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF), is a
partnership of governments, multinational companies, civil society and
indigenous peoples who strive to halve deforestation by 2020 and to end it by
2030. The NYDF outlines ten ambitious global targets related to protecting and
restoring forests. The Global Platform for the New York Declaration on Forests
seeks to fill an important gap in multi-stakeholder engagement and
collaboration necessary to achieve the goals of the NYDF. The NYDF Global
Platform works to increase ambition, forge new partnerships, and accelerate
progress on the NYDF goals by responding to NYDF endorsers’ requests for a
dedicated, multi-stakeholder platform to re-invigorate political endorsement of
the NYDF, to facilitate coordination and communication, to share best
practices, resources and lessons, and to support ongoing monitoring of
progress.
The
National Biodiversity Initiative supports countries to manage their ecosystems
and biodiversity in order to improve national planning and governance of
biodiversity, ecosystems, and development, and to promote resilience for
sustainable development. The National Biodiversity Initiative works in three
project areas: National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs)
Support, National Reporting, and Capacity Building. The use of spatial data for
spatial planning is a cross-cutting theme across these project areas, including
work through our flagship platform UN
Biodiversity Lab, created in partnership with UN
Environment and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Knowledge
Sharing is a main goal of the Equator Initiative, NYDF, and the National
Biodiversity Initiative. The Equator Initiative has a large series of
research papers, books, and other publications focusing on local approaches to
poverty reduction and conservation, informed by community-based initiatives.180
case studies in over 30 languages have documented the Equator Prize
winners’ innovative practices that deliver the win-win-win solutions that
ensure social, economic, and environmental sustainability. The National
Biodiversity Initiative share knowledge on the role of spatial data in
biodiversity planning, policymaking, and reporting through blogs, case studies,
and story maps. The NYDF Global Platform aims to use case studies about NYDF
endorsers from a variety of stakeholder groups, including companies,
governments, indigenous peoples and NGOs in order to share best practices and
challenges in implementing the NYDF goals.
Learning
for Nature is a capacity-building offer provided by the Global Programme on
Nature for Development, cutting across the three areas of work. This program
connects biodiversity policymakers, change-makers, and on-the-ground subject
matter experts to facilitate the delivery of the Convention on Biological
Diversity’s Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the achievement of the Sustainable
Development Goals. Access to the global
multi-stakeholder networks mobilized by the Equator Initiative, NYDF, and
the National Biodiversity Initiative allows Learning for Nature to circulate
knowledge while promoting best practices. Building on our learnings on the
ground, Learning for Nature seeks synergies, build linkages, and engage
thousands of course participants through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs),
webinars, self-paced e-learning modules, and private training courses.
For
further information please go to: www.equatorinitiative.org, www.nbsapforum.net, www.learningfornature.org, www.unbiodiversitylab.org, or www.nydfglobalplatform.org.
This is a position to support a project
which UNOPS is implementing for the United Nations Development Programme. The
incumbent of this position will be personnel of UNOPS under its full
responsibility.