Convention on Biodiversity

Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD)
Ivonne Higuero,
Programme Coordination
Ecosystems management focal point for Europe
United Nations Environment Programme
Workshop on MEAs
Tirana, Albania
22 to 24 June 2010

Happy International
Year of Biodiversity!
Or is it?

Convention on Biological Diversity
Objectives
 Conservation of biological diversity
 Sustainable use of the components of
biological diversity
 Fair and equitable sharing of the benefits
arising out of the utilization of genetic
resources

Institutional arrangements of the
CBD: the Conference of the Parties
(COP)
 The governing body of the Convention is the
Conference of the Parties (193 Parties)
 Its key function is to keep under review the
implementation of the Convention and to steer
its development
 Other important functions of the COP include:
 adoption of the budget,
 the consideration of national reports,
 the adoption of protocols or annexes
 and the development of guidance to the financial
mechanism

The Meetings of the COP
 Meetings of the COP are held every two
years and they are open to all Parties to
the Convention as well as to observers
from non-Parties, intergovernmental
organizations and non-governmental
organizations.

Institutional arrangements of the CBD:
the Subsidiary Body on Scientific,
Technological and Technical Advice
 The SBSTTA is an open ended
intergovernmental scientific advisory
body to provide the COP with advice and
recommendations on scientific,
technological and technical aspects of
the implementation of the Convention.

CBD Financial Mechanism: The Global
Environment Facility (GEF)
 GEF receives guidance from the COP on policy, strategy,
programme priorities, and eligibility criteria related to the use of
resources for purposes of the Convention
 Projects of the GEF are undertaken by Parties to the Convention
and the Implementing Agencies of the GEF: UNEP, UNDP and
World Bank
 Executing Agencies contribute to the management and execution
of GEF Projects
 More than 150 GEF-financed projects are executed or co-
executed by, or contain contracts or sub-contracts to, NGOs.
 Projects generally deal with one or more of four critical ecosystem
types and the human communities found there: 1) arid and semi-
arid ecosystems; 2) coastal, marine, and freshwater ecosystems;
3) forest ecosystems; and 4) mountain ecosystems. The GEF also
has a fifth operational programme: Conservation and Sustainable
Use of Biological Diversity Important to Agriculture
 China is both a donor to the GEF and a recipient of GEF funding.
US$44.3 million has been allocated to China for biodiversity
projects between 2006-2010

Clearing-House Mechanism
 Promotes and facilitates technical and
scientific cooperation, within and
between countries
 Develops a global mechanism for
exchanging and integrating information
on biodiversity
 Develops the necessary human and
technological network

Thematic Programmes
 The COP has initiated work on seven thematic work
programmes:
 marine and coastal biodiversity;
 agricultural biodiversity;
 forest biodiversity;
 inland waters biodiversity;
 Island biodiversity;
 Mountain biodiversity;
 dry and sub-humid lands biodiversity.
 Each thematic programme establishes:
 a vision for, and basic principles to guide, future work;
 sets out key issues for consideration;
 identifies potential outputs;
 a timetable and means for achieving these outputs.

Cross-Cutting Issues
 There are a number of other items on the COP’s agenda addressing key
cross-cutting issues of relevance to all thematic areas:
 Access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing
 Alien species
 Traditional knowledge, innovations and practices
 Biological diversity and tourism
 Climate change and biological diversity
 Indicators
 Public education and awareness
 Economics, trade and incentive measures
 Ecosystem approach
 Global strategy for plant conservation
 Global taxonomy initiative
 Impact assessment
 Liability and redress
 Protected areas
 Sustainable use of biodiversity
 2010 Biodiversity Target
 Technology transfer and cooperation

National Reports
 The objective of national reporting is to
provide information on measures taken
for the implementation of the Convention
and the effectiveness of these measures
 The national reporting process is key to
enabling the COP to assess the overall
status of implementation of the
Convention

National Biodiversity Strategies and
Action Plans (NBSAP)
 Article 6 of the CBD creates an obligation for
national biodiversity planning
 The development and adoption of a national
biodiversity strategy is a cornerstone to
implementation of the Convention by Parties
 A national strategy will reflect how the country
intends to fulfill the objectives of the
Convention in light of specific national
circumstances, and the related action plans will
constitute the sequence of steps to be taken to
meet these goals

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
 The Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from
the potential risks posed by living modified organisms
resulting from modern biotechnology
 It establishes an advance informed agreement
procedure for ensuring that countries are provided with
the information necessary to make informed decisions
before agreeing to the import of such organisms into
their territory
 The Protocol also establishes a Biosafety Clearing-
House to facilitate the exchange of information on living
modified organisms and to assist countries in the
implementation of the Protocol

Access to Genetic Resources
and Benefit-Sharing—
International Regime
 Currently being negotiated under the
CBD
 Agreement on a framework for the
international regime
 Next meeting will take place in July 2010
 Objective to adopt at CBDCOP10 in
Nagoya

“Biodiversity Summit”,
CBDCOP10, Nagoya, Japan,
October 2010
 2010 target has not been met, and that extinction and habitat loss
are continuing and accelerating, the stakes for COP 10 are high.
 SBSTTA-14 focused on: urgent action to reverse the current
biodiversity loss rate, finding the right timing for more politically
acceptable decision-making, and making use of the opportunities
offered by the International Year of Biodiversity and the Rio+20
process.
 SBSTTA 14 charted a renewed way forward to fulfilling the three
objectives of the Convention by mainstreaming biodiversity in
different sectors and strengthening synergies across the
composite puzzle of global environmental governance.
 The General Assembly high-level event on biodiversity may
provide an opportunity both for the Rio Conventions’ Parties and
Secretariats to lay the ground for more synergistic and
programmatic collaboration.
 New CBD Strategic Plan and post 2010 biodiversity targets

 The need to strengthen the science-
policy interface on Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services
 No single authoritative and credible
voice on the science of biodiversity and
ecosystem services.
 Strong support expressed for exploring
the potential for a new
intergovernmental mechanism
Preliminary conclusions

 To discuss whether to establish an IPBES and negotiate text
on considerations for its function, guiding principles and
recommendations.
 Busan Outcome document was adopted agreeing that IPBES
should, inter alia: be established; collaborate with existing
initiatives on biodiversity and ecosystem services; and be
scientifically independent.
 They recommended that: the UN General Assembly be
invited to consider the conclusions of the meeting and take
appropriate action for the establishment of an IPBES; and
UNEP’s Governing Council invite UNEP, in cooperation with
UNESCO, FAO and UNDP, to continue to facilitate any
ensuing process of implementing the IPBES until such time
that a secretariat is established.
3rd IPBES meeting conclusions

Convention on Biodiversity

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