Montreal, 25 June 2015 – An average of 69% of respondents in nine countries say they have heard of biodiversity, but additional outreach efforts are needed for the world to reach global targets on biodiversity awareness set under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
According to IPSOS research conducted for the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) in 2015 among 9,000 persons in Brazil, Ecuador, Germany, France, India, Mexico, Netherlands, UK and USA, biodiversity awareness is rising in general, with millennials showing a particularly high degree of awareness. However, the rate is not rising sufficiently quickly to make a difference to biodiversity conservation efforts.
“To reach the 2020 targets on biodiversity awareness, bolder awareness raising efforts are needed not only by governments, but also by businesses and others,” says Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the CBD, in response to the survey results. “As we come to the second half of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity, let us all work together to reach out and increase understanding on biodiversity.”
Other important findings of the 2015 Biodiversity Barometer include:
“To respond to consumer expectations, companies need to step up and improve their biodiversity reporting. In addition, more direct consumer communication on biodiversity is required to increase the trust of consumers,” says Rik Kutsch Lojenga, UEBT Executive Director.
A summary of the 2015 UEBT Biodiversity Barometer can be downloaded from the UEBT website: www.uebt.org