ENB:09:28
[Next] .
[Previous] .
[Contents]
AGENDA ITEM 11— LOCATION OF THE SECRETARIAT (UNEP/CBD/COP/CW/L.7 )
Kenya, Spain and Switzerland have all offered to host the Secretariat. Delegates considered UNEP/CBD/COP/CW/L.7, a draft decision and annex on the physical location of the permanent secretariat submitted by Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. Canada said that while the COP appreciated offers from Kenya, Spain and Switzerland to host the permanent Secretariat, it needed a transparent, systematic, clear, and open process to make the selection. Australia called for detail beyond what is contained in the existing proposals. She also recommended that the COP consider offers from other governments, and that it should not decide on a location until COP-II. She noted that the process proposed was similar to the one used by the GATT in its determination of the location of the World Trade Organization, as well as the selection process used by the Climate Change Convention. The Bahamas questioned how the location could be decided when no consensus can be reached and no decision has been made yet on rules of procedure for decisions. Spain, supported by Uruguay, Kenya, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Slovakia, Chile, Argentina, Portugal, Brazil and Italy, recommended that the COP decide without further delay on a location because the cities in the existing submissions were well known and needed no further study. He said the draft decision violated Rule 35, which requires draft decisions to be submitted 24 hours in advance, noting he had only learned of the proposal in the morning. Kenya said one reason COP-I had been located in the Bahamas was to provide a neutral site for deciding on a secretariat location. He said the draft decision had been submitted at the 11th hour and that the criteria in its annex were extremely biased. The Chair proposed to initiate discussions on the draft decision and promised to report on the conclusions of the consultations at the next Plenary. Despite protracted negotiations, a decision on the location was not taken at COP-I. The draft decision submitted by Kenya, Spain and Switzerland proposed that the decision be taken at COP-II.