Preliminary Report on the Contribution of Aichi Biodiversity Targets to Land-Based Climate Mitigation

This report, prepared by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity at the UNFCCC COP-21, focuses on the interactions between land‐use options for climate change mitigation efforts, including BECCS, and the impact on biodiversity. The report outlines why climate mitigation is important for protecting biodiversity, particularly for vulnerable ecosystems as highlighted in the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Aichi Target 10. The report explores the possibilities and limits to land‐based mitigation strategies, especially incentives for future large‐scale deployment of BECCS (Aichi Target 3) and briefly highlights additional pathways for land‐based mitigation that may have positive effects on biodiversity, especially changes in agricultural practices that improve soil carbon stores (Aichi Target 7).