The city of São Paulo participated in the virtual meeting for the reactivation of the Consultative Committee of Local Governments on Biodiversity, held on June 4th by the ICLEI Center for Biodiversity and Cities and by the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. At the meeting, the Chief of Staff of the Municipal Secretariat for Green and Environment (SMVA), Rodrigo Ravena represented the municipality. Representatives also attended the meeting from the cities of Bonn (Germany), Cagayan de Oro (Philippines), Campinas (SP), Curitiba (PR), Entebbe (Uganda), ?zmir (Turkey), Medellín (Colombia), Mexico City (Mexico), Montreal (Canada), Nagoya (Japan), Tirana (Albania) and Växjö (Sweden).

The Subnational Governments Advisory Committee on Biodiversity was established in 2007. Three years later the Committee acted as a formally recognized Advisory Committee on Local Governments. The last official meeting of the Committee took place in 2014, during the CBD COP 12, in Pyeongchang, Korea. The Committee's re-articulation in 2021 aims to deal with the constant and growing loss of biodiversity and ecosystem degradation and to formulate a new post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (Global Biodiversity Framework - GBF).

During the online meeting, the Deputy Secretary-General of ICLEI and Global Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Cities (CBC) of ICLEI, Kobie Brand, contextualized the Committee's performance, addressing its importance within the scope of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. They also discussed the Advisory Committee’s role and the Terms of Reference’s adoption.

The city of São Paulo was invited to join the committee in 2011. The municipality is one of the leaders in the biodiversity and sustainability agenda. An example of São Paulo's commitment to environmental preservation was the elaboration of the City's Climate Action Plan, PlanClima SP, launched at the beginning of the month. The document lists 43 actions to mitigate greenhouse gases and adapt to the impacts of climate change in city management. Click here to learn more.