Information

The Conference of the Parties, Acknowledging the importance of incentive measures in achieving conservation and sustainable use of the components of biodiversity, Recognizing that biodiversity provides global services to humankind that are not captured and adequately recognized by current economic relations, patterns and policies,

1. Establishes a programme of work that promotes the development and implementation of social, economic and legal incentive measures for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, in synergy with specific programmes of work, in order to:

(a) Support Parties, Governments and organizations in developing practical policies and projects;

(b) Develop practical guidance to the financial mechanism for effective support and prioritization of these policies and projects;

2. Decides that the activities of the programme of work should result in the following:

(a) The assessment of representative existing incentive measures, review of case-studies, identification of new opportunities for incentive measures, and dissemination of information, through the clearing-house mechanism and other means, as appropriate;

(b) The development of methods to promote information on biodiversity in consumer decisions, for example through ecolabelling, if appropriate;

(c) The assessment, as appropriate and applicable to the circumstances of Parties, of the values of biodiversity, in order to internalize better these values in public policy initiatives and private-sector decisions;

(d) A consideration of biodiversity concerns in liability schemes;

(e) The creation of incentives for integration of biodiversity concerns in all sectors;

3. Requests the Executive Secretary to collaborate with relevant organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, and IUCN-The World Conservation Union, in order to engage in a coordinated effort, and undertake through such an effort, as a first phase:

(a) To gather and disseminate additional information on instruments in support of positive incentives and their performance, and to develop a matrix identifying the range of instruments available, their purpose, interaction with other policy measures and effectiveness, with a view to identifying and designing relevant instruments, where appropriate, in support of positive measures;

(b) To continue gathering information on perverse incentive measures, and on ways and means to remove or mitigate their negative impacts on biological diversity, through case-studies and lessons learned, and consider how these ways and means may be applied;

(c) To elaborate proposals for the design and implementation of incentive measures, for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice at its sixth or seventh meeting and by the Conference of the Parties at its sixth meeting;

4. Decides to integrate actions on incentives in thematic work programmes and ensure synergy with activities on sustainable use, noting that incentive measures are essential elements in developing effective approaches to conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity especially at the level of local communities;

5. Requests the Executive Secretary to promote coordinated action on incentives with other international biodiversity-related agreements and relevant organizations, noting specifically that the joint work plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on Wetlands for the period 2000-2001 (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/5/INF/12) includes consideration of incentive measures;

6. Urges Parties and other Governments to explore possible ways and means by which incentive measures promoted through the Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change can support the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity