International Institute for Sustainable Development - Reporting Services (IISD RS) @ Eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP 8), Highlights for Thursday, 13 September 2007, Madrid, Spain

Eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP 8)

3-14 September 2007 | Madrid, Spain

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Highlights for Thursday, 13 September 2007

Delegates to UNCCD COP 8 convened in a High-Level Segment from 10:00 am to 9:30 pm. Eighty-five speakers addressed the High-Level Segment, including 17 Ministers and 9 Vice-Ministers. The contact group on programme and budget and the Friends of the Chair Group on the ten-year strategic plan met throughout the day and, alongside the contact group on the CRIC which met in the afternoon, continued into the evening.

High-Level Segment of the COP

The dais of the plenary room


Grégoire de Kalbermatten, the Convention Secretariat’s Officer-in-Charge	Cristina Narbona, Minister for the Environment of Spain	Lufter Xhuveli, Minister of Environment, Forestry and Water Management, Albania


Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, Minister of Environment and Nature Protection, Benin	Djibo Leyti Ka, Minister of State and Minister of Environment and Nature Protection, Senegal	Aicha Sidi Bouna, Minister of Environment, Mauritania

Mansour Ahmed Al Hawshabi, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Yemen	Mansoor Hasan Bin Rajab, Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture, Bahrain	Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources, Mexico

Participants during the High-Level session

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Christian Mersmann, Managing Director, Global Mechanism, said the GM looks forward to "delivering as one" with the Secretariat based on their different mandates and functions.	Kanayo Nwanze, Vice-President, International Fund for Agricultural Development, emphasized its strong commitment to the GM.	Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, highlighted the establishment, in cooperation with the UNCCD, of the Drought Management Centre for South-Eastern Europe.

Jaime Silva, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, Portugal	Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change	Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary, UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said the Joint Liaison Group adopted four concrete measures to enhance synergies between the Conventions.


Elizabeth Thompson, Minister of Energy and Environment, Barbados	Edward Singhatey, Secretary of State, Gambia	Abel Mamani Marca, Minister for Water, Bolivia