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TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY BUILDING:

The Working Group agreed to recommend that the Secretariat: identify existing clearing-house mechanisms and existing mechanisms for information exchange and report on their expertise; catalogue existing databases of relevance to the Convention and identify their gaps and linkages; and examine and report on existing examples and possible models for national legislation for regulating access to genetic resources, with due attention to its potentially conflicting nature and for agreements and other practices for regulating access to genetic resources.

@HEAD2.5 = CLOSING SESSION

The final Plenary meeting was held Friday afternoon. The first item of business was the adoption of the agenda that included: 1) the presentation for adoption of the reports from Working Group I and II; 2) a discussion of the work to be done in the coming months including the setting of priorities for the documents to be prepared by the Secretariat and their actions; 3) a discussion of the next meetings of the ICCBD and the COP, including the dates, venue and suggestions for the agenda; 4) adoption of the report of the ICCBD and; 5) statements of Governments and officers. The agenda was adopted, however, prolonged discussion on the reports of the working groups left the ICCBD with no time to address items 2, 3 and 5.

During a delay, while a copy of the Working Group II report was being prepared, Ashish Kothari from the Indian Institute of Public Administration delivered a statement reflecting a majority view from the NGOs present at the meeting. He expressed concerns that included:

  • Governments have given far too little attention at this meeting to the larger forces causing biodiversity loss, including adverse economic relations;
  • The ICCBD should set up working groups on forestry, fisheries, agriculture, industry and energy by the Interim Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (ISTAC);
  • The ICCBD had not discussed or asked the Secretariat to prepare reports on the effects that international institutions and agreements have on biodiversity;
  • Delegates have overlooked the role of indigenous peoples and other traditional communities and should give legal and administrative recognition to the importance of local communities in the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes and policies; and
  • The "discredited" GEF remains the interim funding mechanism and, in the meantime, Governments should discuss multiple, suitable and diverse funding mechanisms that are democratic, transparent and responsive to community, local and national priorities.
Working Group II's report was transmitted to Plenary first. Mexico, supported by Brazil, insisted that all the amendments made in the Working Group during the morning be read out. Tanzania, Senegal and Nigeria disagreed. After a lengthy debate, the report of Working Group II was reopened and amended. Each mention of the phrase "agreed" was amended to read "agreed to recommend". The oral presentations of amendments took considerable time and there was confusion on the part of some delegates as to the final wording of the document. For this reason, it was not possible to reach consensus on the report of Working Group II. The Chair decided that the report would be taken up at the next session of the ICCBD.

Colombia suggested that a similar procedure be taken with the report of Working Group I. The Chair of Working Group I insisted that he be allowed to transmit his report, which he read out, including all the amendments. Sweden and Malaysia said that they needed time to reflect on the report and suggested that the report be adopted with the report of Working Group II at the next session. Brazil and Mozambique urged adoption of the report. The Chair decided that the report of Working Group I would be adopted at the next meeting of the ICCBD.

As this decision left both the establishment of the ISTAC and the recommendations for the work of the Secretariat unresolved, the Chair made two proposals:

  • The Executive Director will convene a scientific and technical committee in accordance with the terms of reference in paragraphs 14 and 15 of the unadopted report of Working Group I; and
  • Pending formal acceptance of the reports of Working Groups I and II at the next meeting of the Committee, the Secretariat should be guided by their contents in its preparatory work for the second meeting of the Committee, in accordance with the normal procedures of the United Nations.
These proposals were adopted. After delegates adopted the report of the ICCBD on its first session (UNEP/CBD/IC/1/L.1), the session was adjourned.

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