. Review of the operations of the clearing-house mechanism
Review of the operations of the clearing-house mechanism
Noting that decisions I/3, II/3, II/4, II/7, II/8, II/10, II/11, II/14, II/16, II/17, III/4, III/5, III/9, III/10, III/11, III/15, III/17, III/18 and III/19 of the Conference of the Parties have clearly stressed and broadened the roles of the clearing-house mechanism as a key instrument to promote and facilitate the implementation of the objectives of the Convention,
Recalling that four clearing-house regional workshops were held prior to the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties and drawing upon those experiences,
Recognizing the urgent need for the private sector to be involved in clearing-house mechanism activities to ensure that the facilitation and promotion of the transfer of technology meet the needs of Contracting Parties,
Acknowledging the need to establish a reliable network of existing and evolving biodiversity institutions and initiatives which can serve the needs and demands of Parties, not only during the pilot phase but also in the long term,
1. Requests all Governments and bilateral and multilateral funding institutions to provide funding for the development and implementation of the clearing-house mechanism, including support for national as well as regional and subregional clearing-house mechanism activities;
2. Recommends that Parties include in their national reports the lessons learned through activities undertaken to implement their national clearing-house mechanisms, as appropriate;
3. Recommends that each Party organize an appropriate national clearing-house mechanism steering committee or working group composed of multisectoral and interdisciplinary representatives, to achieve broad participation of different stakeholders in the implementation process of the clearing-house mechanism;
4. Invites the Parties and other partners to use the clearing-house mechanism logo as a unifying element creating a clearing-house mechanism identity;
5. Recommends that, in building up the content of information in the clearing-house mechanism either at the secretariat or other level, the following major content elements, among others, be used:
- (a) National, subregional and regional
levels: country profiles, biodiversity strategy and action plans,
appropriate legislation, scientific and technological information, financial
sources;
- (b) Secretariat level: Convention
on Biological Diversity and its implementation, national focal points,
international themes, financial sources;
6. Requests those Parties with access to the Internet to link their national clearing-house mechanism home page to the Secretariat's clearing-house mechanism home page, where possible;
7. Recommends that the development of a common format be investigated, under which the orderly sequence of the articles of the Convention should be followed; alternatively, the sequence of the three objectives of the Convention could be considered as the organizing format for information in the clearing-house mechanism;
8. Agrees that the clearing-house mechanism should act as the clearing-house mechanism for future programmes and activities under the Convention on Biological Diversity, subject to budgetary considerations;
9. Requests the Global Environmental Facility:
- (a) To be a catalyst in the development
and implementation of the clearing-house mechanism, so as to assist it to fulfil
its role in promoting and facilitating the implementation of the Convention, in
a participatory manner and fully incorporating available modern information and
communication tools;
- (b) To support capacity-building
activities and country-driven pilot projects focused on priority areas, as
critical components in the implementation of the clearing-house mechanism at the
national, subregional, biogeographic, and regional levels, both during and after
the pilot phase;
- (c) To provide by all possible means, as
appropriate, increased support for country-driven projects to establish and
strengthen biodiversity information systems such as, inter alia,
training, technology and processes related to the collection, organization,
maintenance and updating of data and information and its communication to users
through the clearing-house mechanism;
- (d) To evaluate at the end of the
clearing-house mechanism pilot phase the experience of the Global Environment
Facility's support for developing countries' activities, to consider additional
efforts to meet the increasing interest in taking part in and having access to
the clearing-house mechanism, including in regional networking, and to report to
the Executive Secretary prior to the next meeting of the Subsidiary Body on
Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice;
10. Instructs the Executive Secretary:
- (a) To put in place a list server with all
officially designated clearing-house mechanism national focal points and other
partners for the purpose of disseminating information on new and recent
developments regarding the clearing-house mechanism, at either the national,
regional or international level;
- (b) To act as a focal point, during and
after the pilot phase, to encourage the development of a network of partners,
including indigenous and local communities, and to facilitate these in
developing specific training for the effective participation of users in the
clearing-house network;
- (c) To ensure that the clearing-house
mechanism should be continuously assisted in its functioning by the Informal
Advisory Committee which is to provide guidance to the Executive Secretary
during and after the pilot phase, and to play a full role in the further
development of the clearing-house mechanism;
- (d) To provide encouragement for and
facilitate the coordination of biodiversity-related networks, activities and
focal points that may constitute the clearing-house mechanism, to encourage
their linkages within the clearing-house mechanism network and to make available
information arising from the Secretariat's own functions as outlined in Article
24 of the Convention;
- (e) To assist in ensuring that the
implementation of Articles 16 (Transfer of and Access to Technology), 17
(Information Exchange) and 18 (Scientific and Technical Cooperation) of the
Convention on Biological Diversity is facilitated by the clearing-house
mechanism;
- (f) To produce an informative and widely
disseminated clearing-house mechanism brochure and newsletter to increase
awareness of the activities of the clearing-house mechanism;
- (g) To improve synergy in regard to
information exchange with other biodiversity-related conventions and ongoing
international or supranational information initiatives, and to contribute to the
harmonization of the information management of other biodiversity-related
treaties and to continue to discuss the possibilities of joint and harmonized
approaches with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and
the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification;
- (h) To facilitate support to those Parties
without adequate Internet access, preparing and disseminating to them updated
information arising from the Secretariat's own functions as outlined in Article
24 of the Convention on, inter alia, CD-ROM or diskettes, either
periodically or as required, and facilitating the dissemination of appropriate
information to those Parties;
- (i) To collaborate, with partners, on the
provision of advice to Parties and others on, inter alia, the necessary
layout and system specifications of the clearing-house mechanism;
- (j) To produce a tool-kit prototype
containing necessary information for national focal points to build their
national clearing-house mechanisms, drawing upon the recommendations of the
regional workshops and following an informal assessment of national practices in
collaboration with the Informal Advisory Committee on the clearing-house
mechanism;
- (k) To undertake an independent review of
the pilot phase of the clearing-house mechanism, starting at the end of 1998, to
be presented to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological
Advice for its consideration together with a longer-term programme of work for
the clearing-house mechanism. The following elements for evaluation of the pilot
phase, among others, are recommended to be used:
(i) Number of national focal points fully and effectively connected;
(ii) Number and relevance of thematic networks and activities connected;
(iii) Amount of information transferred from participating nodes;
(iv) Number and effectiveness of training events;
(v) Effectiveness of guidelines in achieving their aims;
- (vi) Whether the clearing-house
mechanism is being effectively used by Parties to further the aims of the
Convention;
- (vii) Number of nodes supplying
relevant information such as national reports, legislation and policies;
- (viii) Use made of list servers;
- (ix) Financial support, other
resources, and time allocated for the implementation of the clearing-house
mechanism, in particular by the Secretariat and the clearing-house mechanism
national focal points.