Montreal, 28 June 2014 – Governments finished a week of deliberations on scientific issues that will inform future national efforts under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to achieve the goals of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
The eighteenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-18) wrapped up in the early afternoon of 28 June 2014 sending recommendations to the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP-12) scheduled to take place in PyeongChang, Republic of Korea in October 2014.
The recommendations from SBSTTA-18 are likely to form part of the proposed package of decisions known as the “PyeongChang Roadmap for the enhanced implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.”
“The work that has taken place at SBSTTA-18 this week has provided the strong science base required for achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets,” said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the CBD. “The guidance you have provided will be an important part of the proposed PyeongChang Roadmap to 2020. There is a clear consensus on the need to redouble our efforts to achieve the goals of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.”
SBSTTA-18 welcomed the draft of the fourth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-4) and the underlying technical reports. GBO-4 will be launched on the opening day of COP-12 and will provide a mid-term review and assessment of the state of implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. The meeting recommended that the report’s findings would be a central input to the proposed PyeongChang Roadmap to 2020.
Building on the work of seven regional expert workshops, the meeting also prepared a summary report containing scientific and technical evaluation of information describing ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs), and recommended that the Conference of the Parties send this information to the UNGA as well as to countries.
Governments meeting in Montreal also identified priority actions to address the pressures on coral reefs such as pollution, over-fishing and coastal development, with a view to enhancing resilience and reducing vulnerabilities of coral reefs to ocean acidification and the impacts of climate change. These actions would seek to enhance efforts for achievement of Aichi Biodiversity Target 10.
SBSTTA-18 prepared guidelines on devising and implementing measures to address the risks associated with the introduction of alien species as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, and as live bait and live food, which have been identified as a significant pathway for invasive alien species. SBSTTA-18 also reviewed the major pathways for invasive alien species and agreed a number of recommendations to address them.
Delegates also agreed to recommendations on other issues including: Incentives that are armful for biodiversity, synthetic biology, health and biodiversity, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity and climatechange.
Documents relating to SBSTTA-18 can be found at: http://www.cbd.int/doc/?meeting=sbstta-18
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