U.S. Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources and Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Monica Medina will lead an interagency delegation to the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP15) to the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity taking place in Montreal, Canada, December 7-19.
Special Envoy Medina will take part in high-level meetings scheduled for December 15-17 to help secure adoption of an ambitious, evidence-based, and transformative Global Biodiversity Framework that includes a target to conserve or protect at least 30 percent of global lands and water by 2030 and that mainstreams nature in national economic accounts and through nature-based solutions.
As part of the United States' commitment to securing a positive outcome for COP15, Special Envoy Medina will be joined by:
- Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Brenda Mallory;
- Deputy Director for Climate and Environment for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Dr. Jane Lubchenco; and
- Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs for the Department of Commerce, Jed Kolko.
The delegation also includes officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
