ENB:09:65
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REPORT OF COP-3
The President of COP-2, Indonesia’s Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, opened the third session of the Conference of Parties to the CBD on Monday, 4 November 1996, and urged delegates to consider the Convention in the broader context of international action. Maria Julia Alsogaray, Argentina’s Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources, was then elected to serve as President of COP-3. She called for effective measures to implement the Convention and highlighted important issues, including: resource availability; the financial mechanism; the establishment of norms to guide sustainable agricultural practices; and access to genetic resources.
In the opening statements that followed, Mohamed El-Ashry, CEO of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), noted that relations have been strengthened between the GEF and the Convention Secretariat and underscored the importance of partnership- building in the search for sustainable development.
Reuben Olembo, Deputy Executive Director of UNEP, acknowledged progress made by the CBD to date, but cautioned that the COP can no longer theorize but must act now. He expressed hope that COP-3 would: initiate implementation of the CBD; adopt additional practical resolutions; resolve outstanding issues; improve intergovernmental interaction; and devise a mechanism for the Council of the GEF to solve the urgent needs of the CBD.
CBD Executive Secretary Calestous Juma noted distinctive phases of the CBD: COP-1 established the organs necessary for internal function; COP-2 adopted decisions needed to make the transition toward implementation; and COP-3 should attempt to implement the CBD in the context of decisions made at COP-2, with few changes. He called for implementation of the clearing-house mechanism and enhanced collaboration among related institutions.
Deputy Assistant Administrator of UNDP Thelma Awori emphasized the centrality of the CBD’s goals to the organization’s programmes and affirmed UNDP’s commitment to working in supportive partnership with UNEP, the CBD Secretariat and other institutions to implement the Convention.
Costa Rica, on behalf of the G-77/China, emphasized both the need to prioritize the steps necessary to implement the Convention and the importance of promoting the third objective of the Convention – the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources.
The COP then elected the following bureau members, in addition to COP-3 President Maria Julia Alsogaray: Suzana Guziova (Slovakia) and Igor Glukhovtsev (Kazakstan); Manfred Schneider (Austria) and Louis Currat (Switzerland); François Ndeckere-Ziangba (Central African Republic) and Terry Jones (Seychelles); Mohammad Reza Salamat (Iran) and Raéd Bani Hani (Jordan); and John Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda).