Notification 2013-081

Dear Madam/Sir, I am pleased to inform you that the first series of talks on the Aichi Biodiversity Targets “20/20 Talks: 20 Presentations on 20 Targets”, held in the margins of the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) in Hyderabad, India, is now available at: http://vimeo.com/album/2506743/. The Secretariat is seeking to expand the series with the following upcoming talks to be held in Montreal, Canada: • “Business and Biodiversity”, organized jointly with Concordia University, to be held on 3 October 2013, in conjunction with the third meeting of the Global Partnership on Business and Biodiversity; • “Indigenous and Local Communities and Biodiversity”, organized jointly with the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) de Montreal, to be held on 8 October 2013, in conjunction with the Eighth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity; and • “Science and Biodiversity”, organized jointly with McGill University, to be held on 15 October 2013, in conjunction with the Seventeenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice. The Secretariat hopes to build a library of talks to assist Parties and other stakeholders in understanding the importance of achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. I encourage you to take advantage of local events to organize talks and invite speakers to share their perspectives on the Aichi Targets, emulating the format of the first series. Parties are kindly invited to submit these talks to secretariat@cbd.int where they will be made available on the Convention on Biological Diversity website. Should you have any questions or require further guidance, please contact Mr. David Steuerman, Consultant on Business and Biodiversity at the CBD Secretariat at: david.steuerman@cbd.int. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points