Side Event

ABS AND THE NEW CBD STRATEGIC PLAN

Organizer
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and United Nations University (UNU)

Date and Time
22 March 2010 13:15 - 14:45

Meeting
Ninth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing (WG ABS 9)

Access to genetic resources and Benefit Sharing (ABS) is one of the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) along with conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. Thus implementation of ABS provisions within the Convention need as much attention as the other objectives. Considering the ongoing discussions to develop a new Strategic Plan for the Convention for the period beyond 2010, it is important that Parties to CBD provide enough attention to ensuring issues of ABS are appropriately reflected within the new Strategic Plan including in designing appropriate global and/or sub-regional targets and commensurate indicators to assess progress of implementation of ABS issues. UNEP in collaboration with UNU organised a two day informal expert group meeting to come up with new targets on ABS for the future global biodiversity targets as a part of the CBD strategic plan besides suggesting a range of indicators for assessing implementation. This event will discuss the outcomes of this meeting besides providing some options for ensuring ABS is not side-stepped within the discussions of Working Group on Review and Implementation (WGRI 3) and COP 10. For more details contact: Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati, UNEP-DELC