19/07/2010 - Secretariat
of the Convention on Biological Diversity
/ United Nations Environment Programme
Following seven days of intense and complex
negotiations, and with the financial support
of Japan, the world's governments have made
major breakthroughs on a text of a legally
binding protocol on access to, and sharing
of, the benefits from the use of the rich
genetic resources
of our planet. The draft Aichi Nagoya Protocol
on Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) is now
in place, and will be finalized and adopted
on 29 October 2010 at the tenth meeting
of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10)
to the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD).
"History will recall
that the Aichi Nagoya Protocol on Access
and Benefit-Sharing was born here in Montreal.
Once again, the Montreal magic has worked
for delivering one of the most important
legal instruments in the history of the
environment movement", said Ahmed Djoghlaf,
Executive Secretary of the Convention.
The two Co-Chairs of
the Working Group, Timothy Hodges of Canada
and Fernando Casas of Colombia said: "In
Montreal, we witnessed a major breakthrough
in the negotiations. Progress on key issues
is a giant leap toward the objective of
finalizing the Protocol. While much remains
to be done, we are more confident than ever
that the ABS Protocol will be adopted in
Nagoya, next October."
Discussions during the
week focused on the draft protocol text
that was tabled at the beginning of the
ninth meeting of the working group, which
took place in Cali, Colombia, in March this
year. Following this week's negotiations
in Montreal, the structure of this text
remains intact and consensus was reached
on important elements including compliance,
and user measures.
Access and benefit-sharing
refers to the way genetic resources - whether
plant, animal or microorganism - are accessed
in countries of origin, and how the benefits
that result from their use by various research
institutes, universities or private companies
are shared with the people or countries
that provide them. Ensuring the fair and
equitable sharing of benefits from the use
of genetic resources is one of the three
objectives of the Convention on Biological
Diversity.
In 2002, at the Johannesburg
World Summit on Sustainable Development,
world leaders agreed on the need for an
international regime on access and benefit-sharing.
The 4,000 participants attending the eighth
meeting of the Conference of the Parties,
held in March 2006, agreed to finalize negotiations
as soon as possible and no later than 2010
at the tenth meeting of the Conference of
the Parties to the CBD.
Over 10,000 participants
are expected to attend the Biodiversity
Summit. The high-level segment of this historic
meeting will be held from 27 to 29 October
2010 and will be preceded by a high-level
meeting of the United Nations General Assembly
exclusively devoted to biodiversity, to
be held in New York in September 2010 in
conjunction with the sixty-fifth session
of the General Assembly and with the participation
of Heads of State and Government.
The high level event
of the sixty-fifth session of the United
Nations General Assembly, to be held in
New York on 22 September 2010, will be an
important event to accelerate the political
momentum. The President-elect of the General
Assembly, Mr. Joseph Deiss, was briefed
on the status of negotiations by the Co-Chairs
during his visit on 7 July 2010 to the headquarters
of the Secretariat on the preparation of
the New York summit.
Governments agreed to
use the inter-sessional period before Nagoya
to advance the negotiations.
+ More
The beauty and variety
of life on Earth captured in postage stamps
13/07/2010 - Secretariat
of the Convention on Biological Diversity
/ United Nations Environment Programme
The Syrian Arab Republic
recently issued two commemorative stamps
celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity
(IYB), thus becoming the twelfth country
to mark the IYB through the issuance of
a stamp.
The 12 countries that
have issued and registered their IYB commemorative
stamps with the Secretariat represent Europe,
Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean,
and South-East Asia.
The United Nations offices
at Geneva and Vienna have also issued stamps,
and the United Nations Postal Administration
in New York is planning a commemorative
issue.
"I want to pay
tribute to the countries that have made
the effort to design and issue beautiful
stamps as a way of reminding people of the
importance and irreplaceable nature of the
biodiversity of our world", said Ahmed
Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary to the Convention
on Biological Diversity. "Young people
and adults alike can enjoy and take pleasure
in these stamps, which will become permanent
and memorable collector's items."
"I call upon all
other countries that have not yet done so,
to issue their own mementoes of the International
Year and its goals."
To date, the countries
that have issued stamps commemorating the
2010 IYB are:
• Belarus
• Hungary
• India
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Portugal
• Singapore
• South Africa
• Switzerland
• Syrian Arab Republic
• Trinidad and Tobago
• United Kingdom
