Cooperation among multilateral environmental agreements and other organizations

The Conference of the Parties

1. Welcomes with appreciation the strengthening of cooperation with other conventions, international and regional organizations and initiatives as well as the engagement of all relevant stakeholders and, in this regard, notes, inter alia, the agreement reached with the United Nations regional economic commissions;

2. Invites the subsidiary scientific and technical bodies of the three Rio conventions to enhance mutual collaboration in accordance with paragraph 7 of its decision VIII/16, and noting paragraph 2 of decision 13/CP.8 of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework to Combat Climate Change and paragraph 5 of decision 7/COP.5 of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, in a manner consistent with their respective mandates, governance arrangements and agreed programmes;

3. Underlining the important role of the Liaison Group of Biodiversity-related Conventions in exploring options for enhancing synergies, avoiding duplication of efforts and improving the coherent implementation of the biodiversity-related conventions, encourages the executive heads of the secretariats of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Migratory Species, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the World Heritage Convention, and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, to meet on a more regular basis;

4. Invites the Liaison Group of biodiversity-related conventions to examine the report of the Ad Hoc Joint Working Group on Enhancing Cooperation and Coordination among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions (report of its third meeting in Rome 25-28 March 2008) with a view to identify options for improved implementation of and cooperation among the biodiversity-related conventions;

5. Invites the scientific bodies of the biodiversity-related conventions and the Liaison Group of Biodiversity-related Conventions to address at their future meetings, options for enhanced cooperation with regard to work on cross-cutting issues, such as climate change and invasive alien species,, in a manner consistent with their respective mandates, governance arrangements and agreed programmes and requests the Executive Secretary to inform the Joint Liaison Group of the Rio Conventions of this and to invite them to participate in relevant discussions;

6. Welcomes the establishment of the Consortium of Scientific Partners on Biodiversity (the Consortium) - a collaborative partnership between the Convention on Biological Diversity and eight leading scientific institutions (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the French National Museum of Natural History, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the Mexican National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity and the Muséum Nature Montreal) - to promote the effective implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and, as appropriate, its Cartagena Protocol through the organization of training and educational activities focusing on technical and scientific issues related to implementation of the Convention, and encourages other relevant scientific partners to join the Consortium;

7. Expresses its appreciation to the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme for the support provided to implement paragraph 8 of decision VIII/16 related to the joint liaison arrangements between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification at the United Nations Headquarters, and invites him to renew this arrangement for the next biennium;

8. Requests the Executive Secretary to continue to liaise with the conventions, organizations and initiatives with which the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity has already signed or is in the process of signing memoranda of cooperation, including in particular the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, with a view to advancing implementation of the Convention in accordance with the decisions of the Conference of the Parties, including the development of joint activities as appropriate;

9. Requests the Executive Secretary to continue collaborating with the World Health Organization and the Cooperation on Health and Biodiversity (COHAB) Initiative, as well as relevant organizations to support the work of Parties on biodiversity and health related issues above, including by developing compendiums of tools developed under the Convention that could be used for capacity-building and awareness-raising in the health sector;

10. Requests the Executive Secretary to renew the Convention's pending applications for observer status in relevant bodies of the World Trade Organization, and to continue, and further strengthen, liaison and cooperation with the World Trade Organization;

10. Requests the Executive Secretary to continue enhancing the collaboration with relevant regional and inter-regional processes with a view of promoting the implementation of the objectives of the convention at regional and subregional levels;

12. Urges Parties to establish close collaboration at the national level between the focal point of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the focal points of other relevant conventions in order for Governments to develop coherent and synergistic approaches across the conventions;

13. Encourages Parties, other Governments and organizations to make use of the TEMATEA issue-based modules when developing and implementing mutually supportive activities among biodiversity related Conventions so as to improve coherence in the implementation of these conventions;

14. Invites partner organizations and other organizations to engage with regional bodies and processes with the view to enhance implementation of activities of mutual interest, particularly those that are supportive to the preparation of the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB).