Capacity-building for the early entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing

Following the adoption of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing at the tenth Conference of the Parties, held in Nagoya, Japan, in October, 2010, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) contributed one million dollars to a Medium-sized project to support the ratification and early entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol. Thanks to this generous contribution, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, as the executing agency for the project, is carrying-out a series of awareness-raising and capacity-building activities in 2011 and 2012 to support the expeditious entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol. The United Nations Environment Programme is acting as the implementing agency for the project.

The main capacity-building activities of the project include:

• Briefing sessions for key partners and stakeholders including high ranking government officials, national-level legislators, and relevant UN bodies. Briefing sessions will also be held at key international meetings and parliaments.

• A component on Access and Benefit-sharing integrated into regional and sub-regional workshops on National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPS).

• Capacity building workshops for ABS national focal points and indigenous and local communities organized back to back with the first and second meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol and the seventh meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Article 8J and Related Provisions (WG8J 7).

Outreach material on ABS was also developed under the project to raise awareness of the importance of the Nagoya Protocol, and to encourage its early entry into force and effective implementation. Most of these materials are available in all six UN languages, and include a systematic review of the provisions in the Nagoya Protocol and the implications for Governments, as well as the development of a rationale to support ratification. All web versions of the awareness-raising materials on ABS are available here.

Capacity-building and development initiatives carried out by partners and organizations

The following provides information on access and benefit-sharing projects and capacity-building initiatives supporting the early entry into force and implementation of the Nagoya Protocol:

• GEF regional project: Strengthening the implementation of Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-sharing Regimes in Latin America and the Caribbean (2011-2014). This project aims to increase the capacity of developing, implementing and applying ABS provisions and to improve skills to negotiate ABS agreements and bioprospecting projects in Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, and Peru. Further information on this project can be found here.

• GEF regional project: Building Capacity for Regionally Harmonized National Processes for Implementing CBD Provisions on Access to Genetic Resources and Sharing of Benefits (ASEAN) (2011-2013). This medium-sized project aims to support the development of national ABS frameworks in Southeast Asian countries and improve awareness-raising Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam. Further information on this project can be found here.

• GEF regional project: Supporting the development and implementation of access and benefit-sharing policies in Africa (2010-2012). This project aims to develop, implement and review ABS frameworks in Cameroon, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Senegal, and South Africa.

• GEF project: Integrating Traditional Crop Genetic Diversity into Technology: Using a Biodiversity Portfolio Approach to Buffer against Unpredictable Environmental Change in the Nepal Himalayas(2013-2017) The project objective is to mainstream the conservation and use of agrobiodiversity in Nepal and includes a component on promoting an enabling environment for access and benefit-sharing of local agrobiodiversity planting materials.

• GEF project: Capacity-building for Access and Benefit-sharing and conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants in Ethiopia (2011-2015). This project aims to ensure conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge through conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants and the effective implementation of a revised national ABS regime.

• GEF project: Strengthening the implementation of the Biological Diversity Act and rules with focus on its access and benefit-sharing provisions in India (2011-2014).The objectives of this project are to increase the institutional, individual and stakeholder’s capacity to implement ABS legislation and ABS agreements.
• NPIF Project: Global support for the ratification and entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing in support of ratification (2012-2014). The project aims to provide support for 30 countries globally to speed up their efforts towards the ratification or accession to the Nagoya Protocol.

• The ABS Capacity Development Initiative is a multi-donor initiative that aims to support relevant stakeholders on the African continent and in the ACP countries (African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States) in developing and implementing national ABS regulations, in particular to ratify and implement the Nagoya Protocol on ABS.