Scottish Government at COP26: What was achieved?

Case study: The Edinburgh Process

Context

Led by the Scottish Government, the Edinburgh Process for Biodiversity is a global partnership of sub-state governments and networks working alongside the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to advocate for the greater inclusion, and recognition, of all levels of government in taking positive actions to address biodiversity loss, as well as addressing climate change.

The Edinburgh Declaration sets out commitments for governments, regions and cities across the globe to implement the post-2020 global biodiversity framework (GBF) which will be agreed at the CBD COP15 in 2022. It acknowledges the interlink between climate change and biodiversity loss, and the need to take cross-cutting actions across the Rio Conventions to address these major global challenges. By the time of COP26 in November 2021, the Edinburgh Declaration had received support from 210 global governments, city and local authorities.

The UN CBD is unique in recognising the ‘subnational constituency’ as a major stakeholder, and is encouraging greater collaboration across all levels of government. The Edinburgh Process is a key part of this endeavour and as a partnership we were keen to share our lessons with UNFCCC where the subnational constituency is yet to be formally recognised.

What happened?

The Scottish Government delivered a panel event entitled “Hearing the voice of subnational governments: Learning from the Edinburgh Declaration for biodiversity”.

This event showcased the success of the Edinburgh Process within the CBD and discuss how this can be replicated within the UNFCCC.

Scottish Government’s Minister for Environment and Land Reform and the Divisional Head for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity opened the event with welcome speeches. Participants included politicians, academics and officials from across the world.

The in-person event was full to capacity with 35 attendees, and the livestream had 58 viewers from around the world. Furthermore, the recording of the event has been viewed nearly 50 times via the Scottish Government’s YouTube channel.

What was the impact?

This event highlighted the contribution that Scotland has made to the development of the post-2020 GBF – taking a leadership role in bringing together the subnational constituency – and resulting in the call for national governments across the globe to step up their recognition and inclusion of sub-national authorities to deliver for nature. It links the narrative between COP26 and COP15 by starting the discussion on how the success of the Edinburgh Process can be replicated within the UNFCCC.

Over the course of COP26, the Scottish Government gained 12 new signatories to the Declaration and gained positive publicity across the world. Scotland’s leadership of this global partnership was showcased on the global stage and highlighted the commitment to tackling the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.

This contributed to three key objectives: to galvanise greater action from different levels of government and civic society stakeholders; to build and strengthen partnerships and connections at a global level; and to enhance Scotland’s profile as a global climate leader.

What are the next steps?

The focus for the Edinburgh Process is for a revised Subnational Plan of Action to be formally adopted by Parties to the CBD. As leaders of the process, the Scottish Government will continue their Edinburgh Declaration advocacy work in the run up to at COP15, and use the handover from COP26 to COP15 to emphasise the COP26 legacy work and continue to showcase leadership in this international partnership.