Consultation response from Biovision

Biovision expresses its views on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With the 2030 Agenda as a central frame of reference, Switzerland should pursue a systemic and interconnected approach in which the fight against hunger, poverty and the alleviation of hardship are given priority.

In this way, Switzerland can make an important contribution to fair and sustainable global development.

As a development organisation with a holistic approach and a focus on sustainability, knowledge transfer and ecological development, the following points in particular are of strategic importance to Biovision for Switzerland's future international cooperation:

• IC must be consistently aligned with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and implemented with a systemic and networked approach. Possible synergies and conflicting goals between individual thematic areas must be identified and exploited or avoided in the interests of policy coherence for sustainable development. Only if the causes are addressed - e.g. access to land, seeds, knowledge and market inequalities, climate change and biodiversity loss, food losses - can hunger and poverty be eliminated and the people affected be given the opportunity to live in dignity.
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Special Report on Climate Change and Land Systems of early August showed that the transformation of food systems has a central role to play in mitigating the climate crisis. Switzerland should therefore continue and expand its pioneering role in the dissemination of agroecological methods worldwide. In addition, applied research into agroecological approaches should be strengthened by establishing innovative partnerships and joint learning processes between science and practice in developing countries.
• The importance of Switzerland's international cooperation must also be reflected in financial terms. Therefore, Biovision demands from the Federal Council that the share of IC in the national income is increased to 0.7% in view of the repeated surpluses of billions in the federal treasury as well as the financing gap for the achievement of the SDGs.

As a country with a strong international network, Switzerland is directly affected by complex challenges such as climate change, soil degradation, poverty, conflicts, migration and their impacts. More than ever, politics, business, science and civil society are called upon to negotiate development paths that accelerate the change towards sustainability - globally, but also in Switzerland. The 2030 Agenda provides the necessary compass for this. Achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is an imperative of economic reason, social justice and ecological responsibility.

You can find out more about Biovision - Foundation for Ecological Development by following this link: www.biovision.ch