Information

Bearing in mind Articles 20 and 21 of the convention, Underlining the importance of paragraphs 1 and 4 of Article 20 of the Convention,

Taking into account, in particular, paragraph 6 of decision II/6,

Recalling paragraph 6 of decision II/7, which emphasizes the importance of capacity/building and requests the interim financial mechanism under the convention to facilitate the urgent implementation of Articles 6 and 8 of the Convention by making available to developing country Parties financial resources for projects in a flexible and expeditious manner,

Recognizing that the Global Environment Facility, as stated in its Operational Principles for Development and Implementation of its Work Programme will maintain sufficient flexibility to respond to changing circumstances, including evolving guidance of the Conference of the Parties and experience gained from monitoring and evaluation activities,

Recognizing further that the Global Environment Facility, in its operational criteria for enabling activities for biodiversity, anticipates that these criteria will need to be reviewed and revised on the basis of early implementation experience, as necessary,

Recognizing progress made by the Global Environment Facility, in particular, concerning the Global Environment Facility decisions on medium-sized projects and enabling activities,

Recognizing also difficulties encountered with the application of the Operational Strategy of the Global Environment Facility, the project appraisal process, the application of the criteria for determining incremental costs and the procedures applied by the Implementing Agencies,

Recognizing further the need for a balanced implementation of the provisions of the Convention,

Taking note of the report of the Global Environment Facility to the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties, in which information was provided on the efforts to ensure that funding of its activities is in conformity with the policy, strategy, eligibility criteria and programme priorities of the Conference of the Parties, and in particular, the expedited procedures adopted for enabling activities in the biodiversity focal area,

1. Urges the Implementing Agencies of the Global Environment Facility to enhance cooperation to increase efforts to improve the processing and delivery systems of the Global Environment Facility;

2. Decides to provide the following additional guidance to the Global Environment Facility in the provision of financial resources in conformity with decisions I/2 and II/6 of the first and second meetings of the Conference of the Parties. In this regard, the Global Environment Facility shall provide financial resources to developing countries for country-driven activities and programmes, consistent with national priorities and objectives, recognizing that economic and social development and poverty eradication are the first and overriding priorities of developing countries:

(a) For capacity-building in biosafety, including for the implementation by developing countries of the UNEP International Technical Guidelines on Safety in Biotechnology;

(b) For capacity-building, including taxonomy, to enable developing countries to develop and carry out an initial assessment for designing, implementing and monitoring programmes in accordance with Article 7, taking into account the special need of small island States (Note: The Conference of the Parties endorsed recommendation II/2 of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, concerning capacity-building for taxonomy);

(c) For supporting, as a priority, efforts for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity important to agriculture, in accordance with decision 3/11;

(d) For supporting the following activities as critical components in the implementation of the clearing-house mechanism at the national, subregional and regional levels, including in the pilot phase, to which critical components the Global Environment Facility shall give effect by implementing its revised operational criteria for enabling activities in relation to the clearing-house mechanism as quickly as possible:

(i) capacity-building for the purpose of the clearing-house mechanism, including training in information systems technologies that will allow developing countries to take advantage of the recent developments in electronic communication, including the Internet;

(ii) country-driven pilot projects, focused on priority areas identified by the Conference of the Parties which would enable developing countries to begin to implement the main features of the pilot-phase of the clearing-house mechanism;

3. Reconfirms the importance of the Global Environment Facility’s support for incentive measures, guidance for which was contained in Annex I to decision I/2, paragraph 4 (i), taking note of decision III/18;

4. Urges the Global Environment Facility, along with Governments, regional economic integration organizations, and competent international, regional and national organizations, to support human and institutional capacity-building programmes for Governments, non-governmental organizations and local and indigenous communities, as appropriate, to promote the successful development and implementation of legislative, administrative and policy measures and guidances on access to genetic resources, including scientific, technical, business, legal and management skills and capacities;

5. Requests the Global Environment Facility to examine the support of capacity-building projects for indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles related to the preservation and maintenance of their knowledge, innovations and practices relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity with their prior informed consent and their participation;

6. Requests the Global Environment Facility, in preparing projects in conformity with the Conference of the Parties guidance on policy, strategy, programme priorities and eligibility criteria, to include in such projects, when relevant to the project’s objectives and consistent with national priorities, project components addressing:

(a) Targeted research which contributes to conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components including research for reversing current trends of biodiversity loss and species extinction;

(b) Promotion of the understanding of the importance of, and measures required for, the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity;

7. Requests the Secretariat of the Convention and the Global Environment Facility to collaborate in preparing, for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its fourth meeting, a proposal on the means to address the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of genetic resources including assistance to developing country Parties.