International and regional instruments and institutions play a key role in managing biodiversity and have influenced the development of biodiversity-related law and policy at a South African domestic scale. The emergence of several pertinent international and regional instruments and institutions have informed the way that South Africa chooses to conserve, manage and promote the sustainable use of its important biodiversity. These instruments and institutions also facilitate essential transboundary collaboration between South Africa and other countries.
One key institution that plays an important role in developing international law and policy is the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The core mission of the IUCN is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. It consists of over 1200 member organisations, which include over 200 governments and 900 NGOs.
The work of the IUCN is supported by numerous programmes and commissions. These programmes and commissions produce guidelines and reports that influence the development of international and domestic biodiversity-related law and policies. The recommendations that come from the IUCN World Conservation Congresses and the World Parks Congresses also influence the development biodiversity law and policy.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a framework treaty that favours a holistic and integrated approach to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, over a species-based approach. The overall objectives of the CBD are the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
The CBD is implemented through the decisions of the Conference of the Parties (COP). The COP adopted two protocols under the CBD, namely:
Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol which provides procedures and international rules for liability and redress for damage to biodiversityresulting from LMOs.
Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization which gives an international framework for the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and transfer of relevant technologies.
South Africa ratified the CBD and has commitments under it. To give effect to its commitments, Parliament enacted a national law specifically dealing with biodiversity conservation called the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act (NEMBA). NEMBA is the law that regulates the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its functions.
In terms of section 38 of NEMBA, the Minister responsible for environmental affairs had a legislative obligation to develop the National Biodiversity Framework (NBF) within 3 years from the date of commencement of the Act. Thus, in response to an obligation prescribed in terms of a national law, a national policy (the National Biodiversity Framework) was created. The content of the National Biodiversity Framework was in turn informed by other documents that SANBI had a key role in developing—including the National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment of 2004 (which was the first iteration of the NBA), as well as the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP 2005).These documents offered the best available science and identified priorities that were crucial for informing the content of the NBF.
In terms of Article 6 of the CBD, memberstates (including South Africa) had to develop policies that would give effect tobiodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources. The NBSAP 2005 was thus developed so as to fulfil an international law obligation underthe CBD.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (“GBF”) was adopted in 2022 at CBD COP15. The GBF is a historicframework in the face of a dangerous decline in nature (which threatens thesurvival of 1 million species and impacts the lives of billions of people). It supports the achievement of the SustainableDevelopment Goals and also builds on existing strategic plans under the CBD. TheGBF sets out an ambitious pathway to reach the global vision of a world livingin harmony with nature by 2050. Key elements of the GBF include 4 overarching goalsfor 2050 and 23 targets for 2030 to safeguard and sustainably use biodiversity.[1]
The 4 goals to be achieved by 2050 relateto ecosystem and species health including to halt human-induced speciesextinction, the sustainable use of biodiversity, equitable sharing of benefits,and implementation and finance to include closing the biodiversity finance gapof $700 billion per year.
The 23 targets to be achieved by 2030include 30% conservation of land, sea and inland waters, 30% restoration ofdegraded ecosystems, halving the introduction of invasive species, and $500billion/year reduction in harmful subsidies.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The objective of the UNFCCC is to deal with the problems associated with perturbations in the global climate system. It seeks to achieve stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. The UNFCCC was signed by South Africa in 1993 and ratified in 1997.
The Kyoto Protocol operationalizes the UNFCCC by committing industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets. The commitment by Parties to reduce GHG is founded on scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and that man-made CO2 emissions are driving it.
The Paris Agreement is an international treaty on climate change adopted in 2015 at the UNFCCC COP21. The Paris Agreement’s overarching goal is to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterflow Habitat ("Ramsar Convention") is an international law treaty which provides a framework for international cooperation and national action for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. As a contracting party to Ramsar Convention, South Africa commits to.
As a contracting party to Ramsar Convention, South Africa commits to:
The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) is a framework Convention which lays the legal foundation for internationally coordinated conservation measures throughout a migratory range. It is the only global convention specializing in the conservation of migratory species, their habitats and migration routes.
The CMS has Appendices I and II which list the migratory species to which the Convention applies:
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.Each protected taxa or population is included in one of three lists called Appendices I, II and III of the CITES. The Appendix that lists a taxa or population reflects the level of the threat posed by international trade and the CITES controls that apply.
The Convention is legally binding on its Parties, who have a duty to implement it. The CITES does not replace national laws but instead provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which then develops its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at a national level. South Africa implements CITES through the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act.
The Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural Heritage and Natural Heritage (World Heritage Convention) seeks to promote cooperation among nations to protect heritage around the world that is of such outstanding universal value that its conservation is important for current and future generations.
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The UNCCD specifically addresses the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) sets out a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world's oceans and seas by establishing rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources. The UNCLOS recognises that all problems in the ocean space are closely interrelated and that they need to be addressed as a whole.
The objective of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources. For the purposes of this Convention, the term ‘conservation’ includes ‘rational use’. Any harvesting and associated activities in the area to which the CCAMLR applies must be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Convention and with the stated principles of conservation. The CCAMLR has relevance for the Prince Edward Islands.
South Africa is one of thirteen Parties to have joined the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP). Through its Parties, the ACAP sets out to conserve albatrosses and petrels by coordinating international activities to mitigate threats to their populations. The 31 listed species face a conservation crisis, with thousands of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters are dying every year because of fisheries operations.
The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS) protects the stocks of Antarctic seals from commercial exploitation. The objective of the Convention is to protect and enable scientific research on Antarctic seals and to maintain a satisfactory balance in the Antarctic ecosystem. The CCAS is considered to be a successful international agreement, given that seal populations in Antarctica have since recovered.
