PARTIES TO BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION TO MEET IN JAKARTA

Press Release
HE/911

PARTIES TO BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION TO MEET IN JAKARTA

GENEVA/NEW YORK, 17 October (UNEP) -- Some 1,000 participants are expected to attend a two-week intergovernmental meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity beginning in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 6 November. The meeting is regarded as a crucial event for the Convention's future, since governments are now taking the first practical steps towards carrying out their treaty commitments. Their efforts are based on the 1995-1997 medium-term work programme adopted at a similar gathering last year.

This work programme is dedicated to furthering the objectives of the Convention -- "the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources".

Calestous Juma, Executive Secretary for the treaty, said the Convention offered a great opportunity for tackling the erosion of the world's biological resources. The international community must now cooperate in translating diplomatic successes into concrete actions at the national level. That would be the purpose of the Jakarta meeting.

The ministerial segment of the meeting, on 14 November, will be opened by President Soeharto of Indonesia.

Mr. Juma said scientific and technological cooperation would be vital to efforts to implement the Convention. A major tool for the Convention would be a clearing-house mechanism which, by 1996, should enable Parties to exchange information on capacity-building, joint ventures, technology transfer and research collaboration.

Next month's meeting will be a forum for delegates to provide information and share experiences about their efforts to promote conservation

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and sustainable use. Also on the agenda is the role of the Global Environment Facility as the operator of the Convention's financial mechanism.

"Adequate funding is crucial to the Convention's success", says Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which provides the Convention secretariat. "We must pursue a mix of solutions to ensure that national programmes receive the financial and technological resources they need to turn the Convention's words into reality."

Parties will continue their discussions on how to reduce the potential risks posed by biotechnology to human health and to biological diversity. In recent years the biotechnology revolution has enabled scientists to genetically modify plants, animals and micro-organisms. This has lead to remarkable advances in agriculture, medicine and other fields. However, popular fears of the potential risks posed by "living modified organisms", and the fact that many developing countries lack the technical, financial and institutional capacity to address biosafety, have raised concerns. The Convention calls on the Conference of Parties to consider the need for a protocol to ensure the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms that may have an adverse effect on biological diversity and its components.

A further issue will be the threat to biodiversity in marine and coastal areas, which contain some of the world's most diverse and productive ecosystems. It has been suggested that an expert panel should review gaps in scientific understanding of the distribution and abundance of marine and coastal biodiversity.

Administrative issues will include the budget for 1996 and a decision on where to locate the permanent secretariat of the Convention. Canada, Kenya, Spain and Switzerland have offered to provide sites.

The Convention on Biological Diversity was negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and was opened for signature at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. It has received 168 signatures and as of 9 October 128 countries and the European Union were Parties.

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