The Director-General participated in an event held to inaugurate the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity. In declaring 2011-2020 the Decade on Biodiversity, the United Nations seeks to promote the involvement of a variety of national and intergovernmental actors and other stakeholders in the goal of mainstreaming biodiversity into broader development planning and economic activities. Special focus will be placed on supporting actions that address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, including production and consumption patterns.