ENB @ CBD COP-6, 7-19 April 2002, The Hague, The Netherlands

Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity
The Hague, The Netherlands
7-19 April 2002

Daily Web Coverage: Images and Real Audio

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
April 7	April 8	April 9	April 10	April 11	April 12
	April 15	April 16	April 17	April 18

ENB Summary
April	HTML	PDF	TXT
22

ENB daily reports
April	HTML	PDF	TXT
19
18
17
16
15
12
11
10
9
8

Highlights for Tuesday 16 April 2002

Delegates met in two Working Groups and contact groups. Working Group I (WG-I) discussed Conference Room Papers (CRPs) on: the ecosystem approach; sustainable use; incentive measures; liability and redress; biodiversity and tourism; and invasive alien species. Working Group II (WG-II) discussed CRPs on: cooperation with other conventions, international organizations and initiatives; access and benefit-sharing (ABS); implementation and operations of the Convention; and contribution to the ten-year review of Agenda 21. Contact groups on forest biodiversity, the strategic plan, and financial resources and mechanism also met. Above photo: WG-II Chair, Elaine Fisher's reaction upon the adoption of the CRP document on ABS, including the Bonn Guidelines on ABS.

WORKING GROUP I:

Delegates adopted CRPs on the ecosystem approach (UNEP/
CBD/COP/6/WG.I/CRP.13), sustainable use (CRP.11), incentive measures (CRP.9), and liability and redress (CRP.10), with minor amendments. Left photo: Peter Schei, WG-I Chair

INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS FORUM ON BIODIVERSITY (IIFB) called for additional references to indigenous knowledge and participation of indigenous peoples.

WORKING GROUP II: COOPERATION WITH OTHER CONVENTIONS, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND INITIATIVES

The EUROPEAN COMMUNITY (EC) presented language resulting from informal consultations on the mutual supportiveness between the Biosafety Protocol and the relevant WTO agreements.

ACCESS AND BENEFIT-SHARING:

Contact group Co-Chairs Alwin Kopse (Switzerland) and Brendan Tobin (Peru) (right) highlighted work on issues related to derivatives, the appendices, user and provider responsibilities, intellectual property rights (IPR), use of terms and other issues.

In the afternoon, Co-Chair Kopse (right) presented a corrigendum to CRP.6. He highlighted amendments, including: the mandate of the Working Group on ABS to additionally address capacity-building needs and consider reports; an invitation to governments and organizations to submit information on the use of terms, other approaches, measures to support compliance with PIC and MATs and capacity-building needs; and other textual changes.

Cameroon, on behalf of the AFRICAN GROUP, called for negotiations on a legally binding instrument on ABS.

CONTRIBUTION TO THE TEN-YEAR REVIEW OF AGENDA 21:

On involving national focal points and NGOs in the WSSD process, INDONESIA proposed additional language on government initiatives for involving different stakeholders, while deleting reference to NGOs.

BANGLADESH added public participation, in particular of women and NGOs.

AUSTRALIA, clarified reference to the Cartagena Protocol and opposed the idea of mandating harmonization between multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and other international agreements.

CONTACT GROUP: FOREST BIODIVERSITY

Chair Alfred Oteng-Yeboah (Ghana) convened contact group meetings in the afternoon and evening. Some delegates advocated developing a specific format for reporting on forest biodiversity, while others emphasized reporting through existing national reports.

The need for particular attention to certain types of forests was debated at length, with delegates agreeing on urgent action for forests that are "ecologically significant and/or most important for biological diversity on national and regional scales and according to national priorities" as well as areas subject to "loss or threats of loss" of forest biodiversity.

ENB SNAPSHOTS:

Links:

The CBD home page

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety home page

ENB Coverage of COP-5 |SBSTTA-7 |WG on Article 8(j)-2|WG-ABS-1 |

COP-6 Provisional Agenda |PDF|WORD|

COP-6 Information for Participants in PDF

CBD-Handbook

IISD Introduction to the CBD Process