ENB:09:14
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WORKING GROUP II
The Contact Groups continued their consultations during the day and the Working Group met during the evening session.
CONTACT GROUP II
The Chair, Mr. Juan Mateos, opened the discussion on agenda item 4.1.7 on the list of developed country Parties and other Parties which voluntarily assume the obligations of developed country Parties. Several countries proposed different lists that could be used. The UK withdrew the suggestion it had made in the Working Group to base the list on non-recipient donors to the GEF. The Chair proposed another list that had been developed by UNEP. Several additions were then proposed including: Luxembourg (with a footnote to reference that they were not present); all OECD and EU countries that had been omitted such as Greece, Ireland, Turkey and Mexico; and Monaco. Mexico stated that it has no objection to its inclusion in lists where modest contributions are expected, however, to be included on a list that prevented it from receiving funds was unacceptable. Australia suggested using the World Bank or UNDP list of developed, high-income countries, as outlined in UNEP/CBD/IC/2/10. Brazil commented that it was not elegant to be naming countries and suggested that the Chair develop a list and present it to the Working Group. This was agreed.
In the discussion of "other Parties that may voluntarily assume developed country obligations," Germany noted that the CBD called for countries, not communities. However, several developed and developing countries disagreed, noting that "other Parties" includes any other Parties. There was agreement that the list was one of self-selection. It was also noted that the discussion was implicitly focused on the notion of financial obligations. However, other Parties may wish to undertake other obligations such as capacity building and technology transfer.
The Chair then distributed the revised text, Programme Priorities for Access to and Utilization of Financial Resources, which had been agreed on Monday. Four of the thirteen programme priorities and the first introductory sentence contain brackets. After some minor editing, it was agreed that the text would be submitted to Working Group II.
WORKING GROUP II (EVENING SESSION)
CONTACT GROUP I REPORT: The Chair, Mr. Uppenbrink, reported that the Draft Financial Rules for the Convention of the Trust Fund for the CBD (UNEP/CBD/IC/2/WG.II/L.1) has been agreed. The Working Group agreed to recommend the document to the COP as the basis for further discussions. The second item addressed by this Group, the budget, is still under consideration.
CONTACT GROUP II REPORT: The Chair, Mr. Mateos, reported on the five days of discussion of Contact Group II. Broadly, three issues were addressed: programme priorities that have resulted in recommendations to the COP; the financial mechanism and institutional structure, which has not resulted in any proposed recommendations; and a proposed list of developed countries. In clarifying of the role of the subsidiary body in reviewing programme priorities, Mateos recommended that due to the sensitive nature of this issue, the topic should remain with the COP. Accordingly, this Group will recommend that the COP does not address this issue for the time being.
PROGRAMME PRIORITIES: Document UNEP/CBD/IC/2/WG.II/L.2, Programme Priorities For Access to and Utilization of Financial Resources, outlines the programme priorities in two parts. The first is of a general nature and the second outlines 13 more specific priorities. The document was adopted and will be recommended to the first COP for use as a basis for further discussion on the issue.
DEVELOPED COUNTRY LIST: The developed country list prepared by Mr. Mateos was distributed and agreed. This will be formalized into an "L" document for adoption today.
INTERIM DRAFT REPORT OF WORKING GROUP II:The Chair of Working Group II, Mr. Koester, discussed the Interim Draft Report of Working Group II (UNEP/CBD/IC/2/WG.II/CRP.1) paragraph-by-paragraph. With minor amendments, the Report was adopted.