The 132 Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 and China call for implementation of Aichi Biodiversity Targets

Montreal, 29 September 2011 – At their thirty-fifth annual meeting, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77, in adopting in New York on 23 September 2011 their Ministerial Declaration, recognized the important outcomes of the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties (COP-MOP 5) to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, held in Nagoya, Japan, from 18 to 29 October 2010 and from 11 to 15 October 2010, respectively, which represent a significant contribution to the comprehensive implementation of the three objectives of the Convention.

The Ministers called for the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 as the overarching biodiversity framework as well as the ongoing efforts aimed at translating the Aichi Targets into national biodiversity strategies and action plans. The Ministers also took note of the adoption and opening of signature of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from Their Utilization. The United Nations Decade on Biodiversity 2011-2020 provides a unique opportunity to engage the people of the world in the battle to protect life on Earth and Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to spare no efforts for the successful implementation of the objectives of this decade.