Espoo, Finland | 2 - 4 July 2003

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Wednesday 2 | The workshop on synergies and cooperation with other conventions opened on Wednesday, 2 July, in Espoo, Finland. On the first day of the SBI portion of the workshop, which addresses possible synergies and joint action with other Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), representatives of international organizations, including the United Nations Development Programme, Global Environment Facility, United Nations University, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the World Health Organization, spoke on different approaches to addressing synergies among MEAs. Two panel discussions on the perspectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity and on the Convention to Combat Desertification were held. Participants discussed the links between the three Rio conventions, the nature and importance of synergies, and the challenges in realizing them at the global, national and local levels.
 

	Sirkka Hautojarvi, Secretary General of the Ministry of the Environment, Finland, notes that examining synergies between conventions is central to ensuring that sparse financial resources are allocated cost effectively.
	Daniela Stoycheva, Chair of the SBI, (left) and Halldor Thorgeirsson, Chair of the SBSTA (right).
	Nick Davidson, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, outlines cooperation between the Ramsar Convention and other global and regional conventions and agreements.
	Maria Socorro Manguiat, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), says that IUCN aims to more effectively incorporate climate change into future surveys of species survival.
	Avani Vaish, Global Environment Facility (GEF), explains how the GEF's policy framework promotes synergy and harmonization of country-level action.
	Khalid Hussain, UNDP, stresses the importance of integrating climate change considerations into poverty alleviation strategies.

Link |
More information on this meeting is available from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change: http://unfccc.int/sessions/workshop/020703/index.html.