ENB:09:09
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PLENARY
Plenary was convened at 6:00 pm. Mr. Y. Husseini was elected as Rapporteur to replace Mr. S. Ahmed (Pakistan), who had resigned. The replacement of Mr. G. Zavarzin (Russian Federation) will be considered by the Bureau on Wednesday morning. The Plenary heard the report of the open-ended intergovernmental meeting on scientific experts on biological diversity as contained in document UNEP/CBD/IC/2/11.
REPORT OF THE MEXICO MEETING: Since the Chair of the Committee, Prof. J. Sarukhan (Mexico) was unable to attend the session, the report was presented by the Working Group Chairs, P. Schei (Norway) and J. Seyani (Malawi).
Mr. Seyani outlined the three objectives of the meeting. The meeting had covered the discussions of this session including: the financial rules governing the funding of the Secretariat; the clearing house mechanism; and the subsidiary body on Scientific, Technical and Technology Advice. Mr. Schei introduced document UNEP/CBD/IC/2/Inf.2, Agenda for Scientific and Technological Research, which contains issues that were discussed by the meeting but could not be consolidated due to time constraints. Tunisia, supported by C“te d'Ivoire, said the paper reflected the discussions in Mexico and suggested that it be given equal status as the annexes in the report. The Chair said the matter would be considered by Working Group II later.
ROLE OF OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN FINANCING THE CONVENTION: Although several institutions, including regional Banks, international organizations and large national banks were invited for this session, only three were present. The World Bank and the UK's National Westminister Bank representatives are expected.
DPCSD's Michael Monaghan, on behalf of Under-Secretary- General Nitin Desai, highlighted the outcome of discussions on finance issues at the recent May CSD session and those of the ad hoc Working Group on Finance. The Commission noted the need to develop a matrix of policy options and financial instruments and mechanisms to facilitate the formulation of optimal financial strategies for the sectors under review, and which would encourage private sector funding.
The African Development Bank representative, Chris Kahangi, stated that the Bank could contribute its expertise to governments in the management of the resources provided under the Convention. It will also pay special attention to the management of environments that impact on biodiversity. Nancy Vallejo of the WWF, outlined their transition in the '90s from pure conservation to addressing conservation that meets people's needs. She noted that WWF was not a funding agency.
Eduardo Fuentes of UNDP, highlighted the areas covered on biodiversity, including sustainable agriculture, forestry and natural resources management. UNDP is keen for inter-agency cooperation in the implementation of the Convention. Martin Khor from Third World Network spoke on the potential to generate funding for the Convention by ensuring that communities and governments reaped the benefits of trade in genetic resources. His speech generated debate following his report on the intended take over of the freely-donated gene banks of the CGIAR, by the World Bank. Malaysia and the Philippines expressed concern over the issue. The former noted FAO's efforts to deal with issue of ex situ genes, not covered in the Convention.
Ashish Kothari of the Indian Institute of Public Administration, supported by India, suggested an international levy for natural resource use. He proposed the taxing of industry and the establishment of a trust fund, independent of the Global Environment Facility. Canada said that the idea of supportive work with other international financial institutions would be met if the policies on both sides are complementary and mutually supportive. Sweden expressed disappointment that invited donors had failed to attend the session as it is crucial to harmonize funding criteria to alleviate developing country problems in preparing national action programmes.