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| ISOC-1 Opening Plenary |
 Làslo Miklós
(Slovakia), President of COP-4, opened the session. He highlighted
COP-4 concerns regarding measures to improve the CBD's operation. |
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Hamdallah
Zedan, Acting Executive Secretary of the CBD (center), noted that
the Convention will only achieve its goals through effective management
and organization. |
| Jorge Illueca, UNEP, on
behalf of the UNEP Executive Director Klaus Töpfer, wished participants
a successful meeting. |
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Cristiàn Samper (Colombia), Chair of
SBSTTA-5, highlighted improvements made during SBSTTA-4, including:
a more focused agenda and proposal to hold two SBSTTA meetings between
each COP; three presentations by leading scientists to introduce topics;
and the establishment of staggered Bureau members' terms to facilitate
continuity. |
| CANADA supported incremental
rather than radical change of Convention operations. |
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GERMANY, on behalf of the EU, noted
the importance of agenda setting, reporting and notification, and
he suggested holding annual SBSTTA's and bi-annual COP's. He expressed
preference for making the CBD's existing structures work better than
fundamentally changing them, such as through a new subsidiary body. |
| The PHILIPPINES stressed
the need for full cooperation by all participants in a transparent
manner, especially regarding capacity-building, financial and budgetary
issues. |
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ETHIOPIA, on behalf of the African Group,
said the CBD should work closely with other multilateral agreements,
including Ramsar and CITES, to gain from their experience and to avoid
duplication. |
| INDIA supported yearly
SBSTTA meetings and bi-annual COPs. He also supported establishing
a limited number of specific expert panels, which they said should
be transparent and have equitable geographic representation. |
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TONGA stressed the need to incorporate
regional processes and meetings prior to COPs and SBSTTAs. |
