Highlights and images for 24 September 2016

South Africa

Summary

The seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP17) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) convened in the morning in Johannesburg, South Africa. South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma opened CoP17 and stated his country is taking action to address the illegal trade of wildlife as called for by the UN General Assembly and UN Environment Assembly. He stressed the importance of wildlife conservation to sustaining local communities and economic development through hunting and ecotourism. John Scanlon, CITES Secretary-General, welcomed Angola, Iraq, EU, Tajikistan and Tonga as new parties to CITES.

In the afternoon, participants began tackling the long agenda, starting with the Rules of Procedure. Given ongoing disagreements, the CoP17 Chair proposed, and the CoP agreed, to establish an overnight working group to resolve the voting rights of a regional economic integration organization (REIO), and report back to Plenary on Sunday.

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage, daily reports and a summary and analysis report in English and French from CITES CoP17. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page.

Opening Ceremony

Traditional drummers welcome delegates to the meeting

Edna Molewa, Minister of Environmental Affairs, South Africa

Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa

Erik Solheim, UN Environment Programme
(UNEP) Executive Director

Øystein Størkersen, Chair, Standing Committee

John Scanlon, Secretary-General, CITES

South African dancers perform at the opening ceremony, welcoming delegates to the meeting

Afternoon Plenary

View of the dais during the afternoon session

Øystein Størkersen, Chair, Standing Committee

CoP Chair Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, South Africa

Vladimir Ivlev, Russian Federation

Zhihua Zhou, China

Mauricio Escanero, Mexico

Daniel Ashe, Director, US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

Daniel Calleja, Director-General for the Environment, EU

Edis Solórzano, Venezuela

Simon Nemtzov, Israel

Gerhard Adams, Germany

Adrianne Sinclair, Acting Chair, CITES Plants Committee

Carolina Caceres, Chairman, CITES Animals Committee

Melanie Virtue, Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

Mathias Lörtscher, Switzerland

Elizabeth Mrema, UNEP

Martha Nomaele, Youth Delegate, South Africa

Megan Reed, Youth Delegate, US

Derek Hanekom, Minister of Tourism, South Africa

Delegates during the session

Civil Society Demonstration

Members of civil society demonstrate outside the Sandton Convention Centre before the start of the meeting

Around the Venue

Delegates gather for the opening ceremony

Delegates meet informally

Elizabeth Mrema, UNEP, speaks with delegates

Daniel Ashe (R), Director, USFWS, speaks with delegates

Edna Molewa, Minister of Environmental Affairs, South Africa, speaks with the media

Erik Solheim, UNEP Executive Director, speaks with the media

Around the exhibition space

Participants

Negotiating blocs
European Union
Non-state coalitions
Youth