“In launching the International Year of Biodiversity the United Nations Secretary General stated earlier this year, that business as usual is no longer an option,” said Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. “The time to act is now and the place to act is here at the Aichi-Nagoya Biodiversity Summit.”

Japanese Environment Minister Ryo Matsumoto, the President of the meeting said, “It is my greatest honour to host the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties during the International Year of Biodiversity. A number of important issues, including a new global biodiversity target and access and benefit-sharing will be discussed at the meeting. Japan will do its utmost as the President of the Conference of the Parties in order to pass on „only one Earth‟ to future generations.”

The Nagoya meeting will be the place where stakeholders from all over the world will meet to discuss the ways they will work to meet the biodiversity challenges of the future. Among the important activities:

- A Business and Biodiversity Initiative will be considered at a high level dialogue between chief executive officers of companies and ministers at the margins of Messe Nagoya. More than 500 companies from 13 countries are expected.

- On 26 October, a ministerial meeting will be convened at the initiative of Japan to prepare the Cancun Climate Conference on issues related to sustainable forest management, climate change and biodiversity.

- 200 mayors from around the world will assemble at the “City and Biodiversity Initiative” to adopt a plan of on action on cities and biodiversity together with An Urban Biodiversity Index.

- A summit on parliamentarians and biodiversity will be convened in partnership with the Globe International (Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment.)

At the high-level segment of the meeting, which will begin on 27 October, ministers will have before them the summary of high-level meeting on biodiversity held in New York on 22 September 2010, written by the President of the sixty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly. Participants to the high-level segment will also have also before them the Geneva Call for Urgent Action on Biodiversity adopted by the 11 ministers of the environment that have hosted or will host a Conference of the Parties. This group, called the Biodiversity-11 Group have decided to meet an annual basis to provide leadership for the implementation of the new biodiversity strategy.