. Guidance for promoting synergy among activities addressing biological diversity, desertification, land degradation and climate change

Guidance for promoting synergy among activities addressing biological diversity, desertification, land degradation and climate change

The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice

1. Welcomes the report of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Biodiversity and Adaptation to Climate Change (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/11/INF/5) containing advice and guidance on the integration of biodiversity considerations into adaptation activities and on promoting synergy among biodiversity, climate change and land degradation;

2. Expresses its gratitude to the Government of Finland for its financial and logistical support to the meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group, the Co-Chairs and all members of the Group for their contributions, those experts and Governments who provided inputs prior to the meeting of the Expert Group, and those Governments and organizations that sponsored the participation of their experts;

3. Notes that:

(a) There are a number of opportunities, using existing mechanisms, for promoting synergy among activities addressing biological diversity, desertification, land degradation and climate change, at local, national, sub-regional, regional and international levels, and at the level of the secretariats of the Rio Conventions and of other multilateral environmental agreements;

(b) The climatechange adaptation framework for biodiversity presented in the report of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group and as annex 1 of the note by the Executive Secretary on guidance for promoting synergy among activities addressing biological diversity, desertification, land degradation and climate change (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/11/18) contains a useful approach for the preparation of national strategies and plans;

(c) There is a need to refine and further develop tools and methods for incorporating and evaluating synergy among biodiversity, climate change, desertification and land degradation into national and local planning, including relevant outcome-oriented indicators, while addressing the objectives of the three Rio Conventions and other relevant multilateral agreements;

(d) There are knowledge gaps for including biodiversity considerations into adaptation planning and implementation, as identified in the report of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group, concerning the need to:

(i) Improve understanding of the capacity of species, habitats, ecosystems, landscapes and seascapes to adapt to climate change;

(ii) Quantify and forecast the responses of genotypes, species, habitats, ecosystems, landscapes and seascapes to climate change

(iii) Further develop methods for restoring, maintaining, or improving the ecological functioning of protected areas and of landscapes and seascapes; and

(iv) Improve the understanding of the ways in which land use and other human-caused stressors influence the effectiveness of adaptation policies;

(e) There is a need to devote further attention to the question of adaptation to climate change for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, building on the lessons learned by countries that already have experience in adaptation;

4. Welcomes the development of the biodiversity and climatechange module of Issue-Based Modules for Coherent Implementation of Biodiversity Conventions project developed by the United Nations Environment Programme as a helpful tool for synergistic implementation;

5. Welcomes the joint initiative of the Government of Canada and the secretariats of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to host an informal meeting of the scientific subsidiary bodies of both conventions in November 2005, as a way to strengthen and stimulate further cooperation between the conventions;

6. Requests the Executive Secretary:

(a) To further develop, in collaboration with the members of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Biodiversity and Adaptation to Climate Change, advice on the integration of biodiversity considerations in the implementation of climate change adaptation activities, drawing on more case-studies relevant to the thematic areas of the Convention and additional information derived from the work of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, with the view of producing an in-depth assessment;

(b) To identify ways and means for the clearinghouse mechanism to further enhance exchange of information on the interlinkages between biodiversity and climate change adaptation activities.

7. Recommends that the Conference of the Parties:

(a) Welcome the advice or guidance, including tools and approaches, contained in the noteby the Executive Secretary prepared for the eleventh meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, with the addition, as a new section IV, of section IV of the report of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Biodiversity and Adaptation to Climate Change (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/11/INF/5), as an initial step in the design, implementation and monitoring of activities that interlink across biodiversity, climate-change and land degradation and desertification, while addressing the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and other relevant multilateral environmental agreements;

(b) Request the Executive Secretary to transmit this decision, including the report of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group, to relevant bodies of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the Ramsar Convention, and to ensure follow-up through the liaison group of the Rio conventions;

(c) Recall decision VII/15, paragraph 15;

(d) Invite Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and research institutions to address, as appropriate, the research gaps outlined in the report of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Biodiversity and Adaptation to Climate Change and summarized in paragraph 3 above and promote research on mitigation and biodiversity in order to further facilitate the incorporation of biodiversity considerations into the design, implementation and monitoring of activities aimed at mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

(e) Invite Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and research institutions to develop and support, as appropriate, pilot projects involving joint actions within the objectives of the three Rio conventions, in order to promote better understanding and functioning of synergies among these;

(f) Encourage Parties to cooperate regionally in activities aimed at enhancing habitat connectivity across ecological gradients, with the aim of enhancing ecosystem resilience and to facilitate the migration of species with limited tolerance to altered climatic conditions;

(g) Invite Parties to consider the need to provide additional support to developing countries, particularly the least developed and small-island developing States among them, and countries with economies in transition, in order to enhance understanding, design and communication of synergies in the national implementation of the three Rio Conventions, and to support the preparation of adaptation activities and plans, including assistance in the areas of financial resources, technology transfer, education and outreach, capacity-building, research and systemic observation, and harmonized reporting.

(h) Identify potential activities to be jointly conducted with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, taking into account the reports of the two ad hoc technical expert groups on biodiversity and climate change, for consideration by the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.