Montreal 20 June 2014. Parties to the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) wrapped up a weeklong meeting on
implementation with recommendations on, among others, resource mobilization,
technical and scientific cooperation, poverty eradication and sustainable development,
enhancements to the structures and processes under the CBD and engagement with business,
local governments and other stakeholders.
The recommendations agreed at the fifth meeting of the Ad Hoc
open-ended Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention (WGRI5)
will be taken up by the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the
Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-12), scheduled for the first two weeks
of October 2014 in PyeongChang, Republic of Korea. Key recommendations from
this week’s meeting may be included in the package of decisions emerging from
COP-12 - the so-called “PyeongChang Road Map” - to enhance implementation of
the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its 20 Aichi Biodiversity
Targets, adopted by governments in 2010 at Nagoya, Japan.
“Parties worked hard this week to prepare for our work at
COP-12, and have made progress in a number of areas that are key to enhanced
implementation of the Convention” said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias,
executive secretary for the Convention on Biological Diversity. “I believe we
made progress towards the targets for resource mobilization, with language now
available that will be a good basis for further negotiations at COP.”
He also said “I am also pleased to see that Parties agreed on
the urgency and importance of effectively including biodiversity in the
proposed sustainable development goals currently under discussion at the United
Nations General Assembly. Biodiversity for Sustainable Development is the theme
of COP-12, and discussions to be held at the high level segment will contribute
to the global agenda for sustainable development.”
The working group agreed to recommendations that brought
together capacity development, technical and scientific cooperation, and better
use of the Clearinghouse Mechanism (CHM), in ways that enhance effectiveness
and usefulness and to enhance synergies in support of implementation of the
Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.
Increasing the efficiency of structures and processes under
the Convention and its Protocols was also an important agenda item. Parties
recommended a consolidation of proceedings for subsequent meetings of the
Conference of the Parties to the CBD and meetings of the Conference of the
Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to current and future protocols
to the Convention. Further, the possibility of creating a subsidiary body on
implementation, which would replace the WGRI, was also recommended.
The Working Group contributed to the integration of
biodiversity in sustainable development and poverty eradication programs by
recommending very clear and strong decisions to be considered by COP-12 for
adoption. The Chennai Guidance will be a good tool for both biodiversity and development
communities to work together to contribute to the implementation of the
Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, in particular Aichi Biodiversity
Targets 2 and 14.
Engagement with a variety of other actors was also discussed,
with recommendations relating to business, international organizations,
subnational and local governments, and the gender mainstreaming plan of the
CBD, suggesting ways to enhance the contribution of these to implementation of
the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, agreed for transmission to COP-12.
The recommendations will be available soon at: www.cbd.int/wgri5
WGRI5 is followed by the 18th meeting of the Subsidiary Body
on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-18), which begins on
Monday 23 June 2014. Among others, SBSTTA-18 will present a draft of Global
Biodiversity Outlook 4, which will provide a review of the status and trends of
biodiversity, as well as a review of the state of implementation of the Aichi
Biodiversity Targets.
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