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Ambassador Celso Amorim, Brazil’s Minister of External Relations, welcomed representatives to the world’s most megadiverse country and called for progress in the Convention’s implementation.
Carlos Alberto Richa, Mayor of Curitiba (Brazil) noted the important role cities play in biodiversity conservation.
Roberto Requião, Governor of the State of Paraná (Brazil), opposed attempts to downplay government partnerships with popular movements and indigenous peoples and, stressing that transnational corporations have no commitment to nature, he called for public policy to defend the environment.
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Welcoming relevant national and international initiatives, CBD Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf urged upholding the commitment enshrined in the 2010 biodiversity target.
Marina Silva, Brazil’s Minister of the Environment instilled a sense of responsibility to mainstream environmental issues into public policy, especially cross-cutting issues such as ABS.
UNEP Executive Director Klaus Töpfer warned representatives that the poorest people cannot bear the burden of protecting nature and traditional knowledge and that the 2010 biodiversity target cannot be reached through a business-as-usual approach.
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Brazil’s President
Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva (above) called for adoption of an international regime on ABS, noting that biodiversity is our planet’s greatest treasure and that opposition to fair benefit-sharing is a threat to life on earth.
WORKING GROUP I
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Above photo: WG-I Chair Matthew Jebb (Ireland) |
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Liberia for
AFRICA favored
finalization and adoption of decisions on incentive measures at COP-8. |
INDIA, opposed by the
EU, proposed convening an
ad hoc expert group (AHTEG) on incentive measures prior to COP-9. |
CANADA
drew attention to recent research by the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development on harmful subsidies. |
BIODIVERSITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE:
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SWITZERLAND called for activities that contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. |
TUVALU emphasized the importance of protecting coastal ecosystems, such as, coral reefs and mangrove forests as an effective measure to address climate change impacts. |
WORKING
GROUP II:
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Above photo L-R: Valerie Normand (CBD) giving advice to WG-II Chair Sem Shikongo (Namibia) |
PRIVATE SECTOR ENGAGEMENT:
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UNCTAD highlighted its BioTrade Initiative, focusing on involving small and medium-size enterprises. |
The INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION underscored the importance of creative, market-based mechanisms to value biodiversity and best practices for biodiversity conservation. Above photo: Catherine Cassagne (IFC) |
ECOROPA cautioned against emphasizing the role of the private sector as opposed to other stakeholders involved in the Convention implementation. Above photo L-R: Ricarda Steinbrecher (Federation of German Scientists) and Christine von Weizsäcker (ECOROPA) |
International regime:
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Malaysia, for G-77/CHINA, supported using the text agreed in the fourth meeting of the ABS Working Group (ABS-4).
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AUSTRALIA opposed, noting the ABS-4 outcome is not an agreed document. |
The US noted that the last two ABS meetings had not brought parties closer on basic concepts and welcomed the discussion as suggested by AUSTRALIA. |
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