EARTH NEGOTIATIONS BULLETIN PUBLISHED BY THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (IISD) WRITTEN AND EDITED BY: JOHANNAH BERNSTEIN ANILLA CHERIAN LANGSTON JAMES GOREE VI "KIMO" DESIREE MCGRAW STEVE WISE . A DAILY SUMMARY OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY 6 December 1994 BIOCOP-I HIGHLIGHTS MONDAY, 5 DECEMBER 1994 PLENARY The Plenary met in the afternoon, and the Secretariat introduced UNEP/CBD/COP/CW/L.7, a draft decision and annex on the physical location of the permanent secretariat submitted by Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. Canada said that while the COP appreciated offers from Kenya, Spain and Switzerland to host the permanent Secretariat, it needed a transparent, systematic, clear, and open process to make the selection. Australia called for detail beyond what is contained in the existing proposals. She also recommended that the COP consider offers from other governments, and that it should not decide on a location until COP-II. She noted that the process proposed was similar to the one used by the GATT in its determination of the location of the World Trade Organization, as well as the selection process used by the Climate Change Convention. The Bahamas questioned how the location could be decided when no consensus can be reached and no decision has been made yet on rules of procedure for decisions. Uganda agreed that additional countries might want to host the secretariat but recommended additional transparent discussion on guidelines for selection. Cameroon cited the need for a basic document outlining eligibility criteria. Spain, supported by Uruguay, Kenya, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Slovakia, Chile, Argentina, Portugal, Brazil and Italy, recommended that the COP decide without further delay on a location because the cities in the existing submissions were well known and needed no further study. He said the draft decision violated Rule 35 requiring draft decisions to be submitted 24 hours in advance, noting he had only learned of the proposal in the morning. Kenya said one reason COP-I had been located in the Bahamas was to provide a neutral site for deciding on a secretariat location. He said the draft decision had been submitted at the 11th hour and that the criteria in its annex were extremely biased. Burkina Faso said regional groups or other interested parties should have an opportunity to discuss the draft decisions with its sponsors. The Chair proposed to initiate discussions on the draft decision and promised to report on conclusions of the consultations at the next Plenary. SBSTTA The organizational meeting of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), chaired by Dr. J.H. Seyani (Malawi), addressed two key issues: the election of officers and the date and venue of the first meeting. Regarding the first issue, the Chair reminded delegates that, in accordance with Rule 21 in the Rules of Procedure, the Bureau is to be composed provisionally of a chair, 8 vice-presidents and a rapporteur. Also, in accordance with paragraph 4 of Rule 26, each region shall elect its own candidates. The Chair noted that he had received provisional nominations from Africa (Tunisia and Malawi); Eastern Europe (Hungary and Kazakhstan); GRULAC (Brazil and Cuba). Both Asia and WEOG have yet to submit their proposed candidates. Spain noted that while Western countries have yet to reach a decision on the size of the Bureau, it preferred to consider the question of composition at a later date. The Chair stated that the election of the Bureau would be deferred until further consultations. On the issue of date and venue, the Chair noted the Interim Secretariat's recommendation to allow sufficient time for the preparation of substantive documents and their distribution. Delegates agreed that the first SBSTTA meeting be held on 4-8 September 1995 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. CONTACT GROUPS Agenda Items 6.1, 6.2, 6.3: The contact group coordinated by Antigua and Barbuda met to consider text for agenda items 6.1 (Policy, strategy, programme priorities and eligibility criteria), 6.2 (Institutional structure to operate the financial mechanism) and 6.3 (List of developing country Parties and other Parties). In the afternoon, the group presented a draft decision and three annexes. The Chair said they should be viewed as a package reflecting a balanced attempt to reflect all regional groups and other interests in the debate. The draft decision: agrees that the restructured GEF will continue as the interim institutional structure to operate the financial mechanism; instructs the GEF to support the policy, strategy, programme priorities, and eligibility criteria in Annex I of the decision; authorizes the Interim Secretariat to consult with the GEF on the MOU to be considered at COP-II; lists in Annex III interim guidelines for evaluation of the GEF; and requests that the Interim Secretariat produce for COP-II a report on the financial mechanism and a study on the availability of financial resources additional to those provided by the restructured GEF. Annex II, the list of developed country Parties and other parties that assume developed country Parties' obligations, lists no countries in the latter category. The Chair said that the interim guidelines in Annex III provided a means for the interim institutional structure to function until the MOU at COP-II. Agenda Items 6.4,7, and 8: The contact group coordinated by Canada completed all outstanding matters in the Draft Statement from the COP to the CSD. In paragraph 11 bis (list of issues to be addressed in the COP report to the CSD), delegates agreed that the final list of issues would be determined, pending the conclusion of the medium-term work programme. Delegates agreed on criteria for inclusion: whether the issue was conducive to coordination with other UN bodies; whether the issue required immediate action; and whether it could be expressed concisely. In paragraph 9 bis (new era concerning access to genetic resources), delegates agreed on the importance of conveying to the CSD the new regime established by the Convention. Nevertheless, it was felt that the language was too ambitious. Delegates agreed to the deletion of references to the sovereign rights of States and to national authority to regulate access. In paragraph 13 (COP contribution to the CSD's forests discussions), delegates agreed to new wording that refers to the importance of biodiversity in the ecosystem functioning of forests and the role of the COP in emphasizing the importance of conservation, management and the sustainable use for achieving the objectives of the Convention. Delegates also agreed to new and additional text that refers to the COP exploring ways to cooperate in the work of the Desertification Convention in the light of the complementarity of the two mandates. The group reviewed the draft medium-term work programme and commenced the process of prioritizing those issues to be considered by the SBSTTA. A small group will attempt to finalize this list by Tuesday. Agenda Items 6.5, 6.6, 9 and 10: The contact group coordinated by Mauritania met Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening to address several outstanding issues, including the medium-term work programme, the budget and biosafety. A small working group met in closed session on Monday to address the annex to the medium-term work programme. The revised text notes that the work programme will be developed on the basis of standing and rolling issues. Standing issues will include: matters relating to the financial mechanism; report from the Secretariat on the administration of the Convention and budget for the Secretariat; report from, and consideration of recommendations to, the SBSTTA; reports by the Parties on implementation of the Convention; report on, assessment and review of the operation of the clearing-house mechanism; relationship of the Convention to the CSD, and biodiversity related conventions, other international agreements, institutions, and processes of relevance to agenda items of the COP. The rotating agenda will be developed in a flexible manner, in accordance with the decisions of the COP, the SBSTTA and any working groups established by the COP. Several items within the medium-term work programme were deferred pending further consideration by the contact group. These included: biotechnology; thematic ecosystem focus; intellectual property rights; identification, monitoring and assessment; consideration of matters related to benefit-sharing; mid- term activities to be addressed by intersessional open-ended preparatory meeting(s) coordinated by the Chair of the COP; capacity-building regarding articles 6-19 of the Convention; a Secretariat-sponsored study of existing legislation and information on access to genetic resources and the equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization; and COP- II consideration of a Secretariat-sponsored study on the implications for and interaction between TRIPs and the Convention. Discussion regarding the budget for the Secretariat of the Convention also remained closed. Key elements under consideration included funding for: executive direction and management; intergovernmental processes and cooperative arrangements; the financial mechanism and economic analysis; legal advice and support; and scientific, technical and technological matters. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE The Chair, Mr V. Koester (Denmark) requested that the Committee assess and consider the proceedings of the three open-ended contact groups established by the Committee. He commended the efforts made by the Chairs of contact groups and the collective work carried out by the delegations. Agenda Items 6.4, 7 and 8: The Chair of the contact group, Mr. A. Lazar (Canada) introduced the draft decision on the clearing-house mechanism as contained in UNEP/CBD/COP/1/CW/L.4. He noted that there was an omission on Paragraph 3, line 3, and added the word "costed" after the word "concrete." Since the decision was adopted without any objections, the draft decision submitted by G-77 and China was withdrawn. With regard to the draft decision on SBSSTA as contained in UNEP/CBD/COP/1/CW/L.8, he noted that in paragraph 2 , line 3 "and Article 25" should be added. after "the Conference of the Parties." In paragraph 4, "to be held in Paris, from September 4-8 1995" was added, and Item 5 (preparation of matters on which advice from SBSTTA is required for COP-II) remains bracketed. He said that this issue can only be addressed on completion of the discussion of a medium-term work programme. The Chair also reported that the group has finalized a draft on the input of the COP to the CSD, with the exception of one paragraph which will need to be updated upon the completion of discussions on the medium-term work programme.. He said that this was a more difficult task because the group had decided to include a brief political statement on the issue. Agenda Items 6.1,6.2 and 6.3: The Chair of the contact group, Dr. J. Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda) reported on the progress made on the issues of: policy, strategy, programme priorities and eligibility criteria; institutional structure to operate the financial mechanism; and list of developed country Parties and other Parties. He said that the second meeting of the group had been convened this afternoon to consider the results of intensive consultations. He said the contact group adopted text that contained the results of these consultations. Although the group had recommended that the text be adopted by the Committee of the Whole, the text was not yet available because it was being translated into all languages. The Committee of the Whole will consider the text on Tuesday. Agenda Items 6.5, 6.6, 9 and 10: The Chair of the contact group, Mr. El-Ghaouth (Mauritania) noted that the issues assigned for consideration were extremely complex and that many of them had been raised for the first time here in Nassau. He explained that while agreement has been reached on many issues, several items remain under discussion. On the selection of a competent international organization he said that the decision to designate UNEP as the secretariat had been accepted. He also noted that extensive negotiations have been conducted on financial rules governing funding of the Secretariat and the budget for the Secretariat. In addition, outstanding issues on the medium-term work programme will be resolved by Tuesday. Before adjourning, the Chair of the Committee of the Whole announced that he would consult with all groups on the voting procedure in the Rules of Procedure, as well as the voting procedure on the financial rules. UP FROM THE BEACH The various contact and other informal groups met until all hours over the weekend in their attempts to resolve outstanding issues before the high-level segment commences on Wednesday. Several commented on the sense of "crowd and urgency" that dominated the Conference Centre Monday morning. Despite the patina of confusion, Monday's full day of contact group meetings succeeded in advancing discussion on several fronts. Notwithstanding the resolution of many key matters, several NGOs perceived a weakening of many of the conservation issues within the context of the medium- term work programme discussions. They cited, in particular, the way in which delegates appeared to be postponing the decision on the modalities for a biosafety protocol by merely recommending a process that would lead to the eventual consideration of the matter. NGOs have been equally concerned about the lack of enthusiasm to include the forests issue in the medium-term work programme. There is, however, greater optimism on a number of issues such as incentives, which have been brought forward from the 1997 programme and incorporated into the work for 1996. THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY PLENARY: The final session of Plenary will meet tonight from 8:00 - 11:00 pm to consider and adopt all remaining decisions. CONTACT GROUPS: The contact group chaired by Canada on agenda items 6.4,7,and 8 will meet this morning at 10 am to finalize its work on SBSTTA. TECHNICAL MEETING ON AGRICULTURE AND BIODIVERSITY: The group chaired by Amb. V. Sanchez (Chile) will meet at 2:00 pm in room Arawak B. INCENTIVES FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION: A roundtable discussion of current efforts to provide incentives for biodiversity conservation will be held from 1:00 - 3:00 pm in the Cat Island Room, Crystal Palace. This issue of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin ) is written and edited by Johannah Bernstein, Anilla Cherian , Langston James Goree VI "Kimo" , Desiree McGraw and Steve Wise . General support for the work of the Bulletin has been provided by the International Institute for Sustainable Development , the Government of Denmark and the World Bank. Specific funding for coverage of the CBD has been provided by the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management, UNEP and WWF. The authors can be contacted at their electronic mail addresses and during this meeting by phone at +1 809 327 6000 room 193 and by fax at +1 809 327 6987. IISD can be contacted by phone at +1-204-958-7700, by fax at +1-204-958-7710. The opinions expressed in Earth Negotiations Bulletin are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD and other funders. Excerpts from the Earth Negotiations Bulletin may be used in other publications with appropriate citation. Electronic versions of the Bulletin can be found on the gopher at and in searchable hypertext through the Linkages WWW-server at on the Internet. This volume of the Bulletin is uploaded into the APC conferences and . 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