Information

COP 11 Decision XI/2

XI/2.Review of progress in implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans and related capacity building support to Parties

The Conference of the Parties,
Recalling that, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), Governments reiterated their commitment to the achievement of the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity and called for urgent actions that effectively reduce the rate of, halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity, and affirmed the importance of implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention at its tenth meeting,
Reaffirming the need for enhanced technical and scientific cooperation among Parties, in line with Article 18 and related articles of the Convention, in order to implement the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020,
Recognizing the potential for enhanced cooperation at the regional and subregional levels among developing countries (South-South cooperation) and between developed and developing countries (North-South and triangular cooperation), consistent with the Convention, and, in this context, noting the potential role of national, regional and international organizations and the private sector in facilitating technical and scientific cooperation,
Noting also the potential contribution of information, technical and scientific cooperation and related capacity-building under the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to the implementation of the Convention and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020,
Taking note of the activities of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity in 2011 and expressing its appreciation to the Government of Japan for its generous support in this regard,
Taking note also of the strategy for the celebration of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity in support of the Convention, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets,
Recalling Article 20 of the Convention and the Strategy for Resource Mobilization,
Emphasizing that conducting studies for capacity-needs assessment and identification of baseline data on financial resources do not delay immediate implementation by developed country Parties of their commitments under Article 20 of the Convention;

A.Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (2011-2020) and national biodiversity strategies and action plans

1.Urges those Parties and other Governments that have not yet done so to review and, as appropriate, update and revise, their national biodiversity strategies and action plans in line with the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, including national plans related to biodiversity, and to report thereon to the Conference of the Parties at its twelfth meeting;
2.Invites Parties and other Governments to undertake voluntary peer review of NBSAPs and their implementation, and to share experiences deriving from it through the Executive Secretary and the clearing-house mechanism;
3.Calls upon Parties and invites other Governments, intergovernmental organizations and other relevant organizations to continue to provide support for the timely review and, as appropriate, the revision and updating of national biodiversity strategies and action plans, to enhance wider stakeholder consultations for setting national targets and indicators at the national level, and to provide additional support to ensure completion and review of national biodiversity strategies and action plans in a timely manner;
4.Invites Parties to include all stakeholders, including indigenous and local communities, women and youth, in planning and implementing national biodiversity strategies and action plans, thereby contributing to the achievement of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020;
5.Welcomes the establishment of the Japan Biodiversity Fund and expresses its appreciation to the Government of Japan for its most generous contribution to support developing countries, particularly the least developed countries and small island developing States among them, and countries with economies in transition, in implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets;
6.Welcomes the efforts of the Secretariat and its partners to enhance support for Parties in the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets through, inter alia, capacity-building workshops and training modules and further work on enhancing the clearing-house mechanism, and expresses its appreciation to Japan, other donor countries and host countries of workshops for their support for capacity-building activities;
7.Expresses its gratitude to all the international organizations and convention secretariats and to the Global Environment Facility for their contributions facilitating the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and invites them to further support the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020;
8.Expresses its appreciation to the Governments of Brazil and the United Kingdom for hosting the global workshop on national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and to the Governments of Belarus, Botswana, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Germany, Grenada, India, Lebanon, New Zealand, Oman, the Republic of Moldova, Rwanda, Senegal, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turkey and to the European Union, which have hosted or otherwise contributed to the preceding subregional workshops;
9.Recalling decision IX/8, paragraph 16 (a), reiterates the request to the Executive Secretary, in cooperation with partner organizations, to facilitate the continued exchange of best practices and lessons learned from the preparation, updating and revision of national biodiversity strategies and action plans, through appropriate forums and mechanisms such as the clearing-house mechanism and, subject to the availability of resources, strengthened cooperation with regional and subregional processes, South-South and triangular cooperation and voluntary peer-review processes among interested Parties;
10.Requests the Executive Secretary to continue promoting and facilitating, in partnership with relevant organizations, activities to strengthen implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets at the national, subregional and regional levels, and encourages other donors and Parties to complement the funds provided by the Government of Japan;

B.Clearing-house mechanism

11.Welcomes the work programme for the clearing-house mechanism in support of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 ((UNEP/CBD/COP/11/31) and agrees to:
(a)Keep the work programme for the clearing-house mechanism under review, in the light of the need to contribute significantly to the implementation of the Convention and its Strategic Plan and to promote and facilitate technical and scientific cooperation, knowledge-sharing and information exchange;
(b)Strengthen communication with, and build the capacity of, national focal points for the clearing-house mechanism;
(c)Call on Parties to share, through national clearing-house mechanisms or other relevant mechanisms, information on results from the monitoring of progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and on projects funded under Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention;
12.Decides to extend the mandate of the informal advisory committee, as defined by its operational guidelines, and to review it at the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
13.Notes the recommendations made by the Conservation Commons in document UNEP/CBD/COP/11/INF/8 and calls upon Parties and other stakeholders to consider how they can most effectively address barriers to data access that are under their direct control with a view to contributing to the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and Targets 1 and 19 in particular, and requests SBSTTA to develop further guidance thereon;
14.Requests the Executive Secretary, subject to the availability of resources, to:
(a)Establish a standard information-exchange mechanism for the clearing-house mechanism to interconnect the central and national clearing-house mechanisms, where possible;
(b)Collaborate with the other biodiversity-related conventions to ensure mutual compatibility and to avoid duplication of work;
(c)Continue to use automated translation tools to facilitate exchange of technical and scientific information in line with Articles 17 and 18 of the Convention;

C.Scientific and technical cooperation and technology transfer

15.Requests the Executive Secretary to develop, in cooperation with relevant partner organizations and subject to the availability of resources, a coherent, consistent and coordinated approach to technical and scientific cooperation, with a view to facilitating the full and effective implementation of Article 18 and related articles of the Convention, in support of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, building upon existing mechanisms, and to develop operational options and proposals, including on the criteria and procedure for the identification of national and regional centres of excellence, as referred to in paragraph 17 below, and to report to the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention at its fifth meeting;
16.Also requests the Executive Secretary to identify how he can facilitate implementation of the Convention by acting as a convenor, to build partnerships and capacity;
17.Further requests the Executive Secretary, subject to the availability of resources, and in line with the approach to technical and scientific cooperation developed in accordance with paragraph 15 above, and in collaboration with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, as appropriate, to engage in a process towards establishing a capacity-building network of national and regional centres of excellence in biodiversity to support the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets in developing countries, particularly the least developed countries and small island developing States among them, and countries with economies in transition, with a view to:
(a)Facilitating the compilation of knowledge, experiences and information on biodiversity-related technologies and associated activities that support, facilitate, regulate or promote technology transfer and scientific and technological cooperation of relevance to the Convention, and making it available, in a systematic and timely manner, through the clearing-house mechanism of the Convention and its database on technology transfer and cooperation;
(b)Providing technical and technological support to Parties, building on the information compiled, by responding to technology needs assessments submitted by Parties and other requests for technical and technological information in a tailored manner, by undertaking match-making, as feasible, and by catalysing or facilitating partnerships for technology transfer and scientific and technological cooperation, including, as appropriate, the development of thematic and regional or subregional pilot initiatives for enhanced technical and scientific cooperation in support of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020;
and report to the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention, at its fifth meeting, on operational options and proposals developed, activities undertaken, and progress made;
18.With a view to supporting the preparation of technology needs assessments to assist Parties in making progress towards achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets,requests the Executive Secretary, subject to the availability of resources, to review existing needs assessment methodologies, consider their adaptation for implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and prepare guidance on a methodology for technology needs assessment in this regard, bearing in mind that the preparation of technology needs assessments shall not delay the transfer of technologies that are already available and for which needs have been identified;
19.Invites Parties, in particular developed country Parties, other governments, businesses and international donor organizations to promote the full implementation of Article 16 of the Convention to support enhanced technical and scientific cooperation, including the clearing-house mechanism, for implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020;

D.United Nations Decade on Biodiversity

20.Invites Parties and all stakeholders to use the following message in activities related to the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity: "Living in Harmony with Nature";
21.Encourages Parties to promote the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity in ways appropriate to national circumstances, for example, protection of Mother Earth, to create dialogues and to share experiences;
22.Requests the Executive Secretary, based on the availability of resources, to promote the implementation of the strategy for the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity within the programme of work of communication, education and public awareness, and to maintain the Decade's web portal to highlight all activities;
23.Invites relevant organizations to engage with regional bodies and processes with a view to enhancing the implementation of activities of mutual interest to the Convention and to such bodies and processes, particularly those that are supportive of activities that support the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity 2011-2020;
24.Encourages Parties, relevant organizations and stakeholders to support and contribute to communication initiatives, such as the World Wide Views on Biodiversity, which combine the implementation of Strategic Goals A and E regarding mainstreaming of biodiversity, participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity-building;
25.Encourages bilateral and multilateral agencies to support the implementation of the strategy for the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity in developing countries, particularly the least developed countries and small island developing States among them, and countries with economies in transition;
26.Also requests the Executive Secretary to prepare a summary of information on activities under the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity to inform each meeting of the Conference of the Parties until 2020, place this information on the website of the Convention on Biological Diversity and disseminate it by other means;

E.Other matters

27.Requests the Executive Secretary to undertake, subject to the availability of resources, a review of the impact of disasters and conflicts on biodiversity and of ways and means to take action to implement the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets under such conditions, and invites the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to integrate, as far as feasible, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 into the initiatives of the UNEP programme of work on conflicts and disasters and to submit a report to the next meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice, in accordance with the rules of procedure highlighted in decision IX/29;
28.Invites the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, in cooperation with the Executive Secretary, to develop a work programme that includes the preparation of the next global assessment on biodiversity and ecosystem services, to be launched in 2018, focusing on status and trends, the impact of biodiversity and ecosystem services on human well-being, and the effectiveness of responses, including the Strategic Plan and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets, building, inter alia, on its own and other relevant regional, subregional and thematic assessments, as well as on national reports, and requests the Executive Secretary to collaborate with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform, where relevant.
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