Montreal, Jun 11 (IANS): The Consulate General of South Korea in Montreal and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are jointly hosting a conference titled "30 Years of Biodiversity: A Legacy from Rio to Future Generations" on June 16 in Montreal.

The CBD is a landmark multilateral environmental agreement opened for signature on the occasion of the historic UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, where representatives of 178 states, including 118 heads of state or government, gathered.

Along with the CBD, two additional watershed multilateral environmental agreements were established: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

The CBD's main objectives are the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, as well as the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.

The convention is designed for the realisation of those objectives through the guiding principles contained within it, as well as through the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing.

The CBD is deemed a second generation multilateral environmental agreement as it takes a comprehensive and holistic approach, in contrast with the preceding generation of agreements that took a more sectoral approach.

The CBD is also considered as one of the most successful multilateral environmental agreements in place, as it enjoys almost full universality with 196 contracting parties.

This year is the right moment for marking the achievements and successes of the CBD and discussing its future. Recent events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise of climate change-related disasters bring about strengthened awareness on the importance of biological diversity.

This year is also a midpoint between the CBD's adoption and 2050, a target year of the long-term vision for biological diversity.

The fact that the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) is underway and the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is in the formulation on the occasion of COP15 makes this year even more meaningful.