Notification 2016-133

Dear Madam/Sir, I am pleased to inform you that the International Legislators Forum that will be convened on 7 December 2016 in Cancun, Mexico, at the margins and the venue of the concurrent thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 13) and the meetings of the Parties to the Cartagena and Nagoya Protocols (COP-MOP 8 and COP-MOP 2). The Forum is being organized by the Global Legislators Organization, GLOBE International, in collaboration with the Government of Mexico and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The participants of the Forum will be parliamentarians and other legislators from national and sub-national assemblies. The Forum will provide an opportunity for legislators from around the world to discuss practical strategies to promote the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, through focused legislative leadership. The Forum will also address the challenges and opportunities for ensuring synergy between the inter-related objectives of global agreements, including the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030). The integration of biodiversity in forest governance frameworks will receive particular attention in a lunchtime side-event presented by Mexican and Colombian legislators. I encourage national focal points to share this information with legislators of national and sub-national parliaments and assemblies who may wish to participate in this important event, including those who will be among the national delegations to COP 13, COP-MOP 8 and COP-MOP 2. Prospective participants are requested to notify the GLOBE International Secretariat at the following e-mail address: secretariat@globelegislators.org as soon as possible but no later than 18 November 2016. This should be provided in the form of an official letter addressed to GLOBE International and should contain the parliamentarians’ names, passport numbers and full contact information, including email addresses, for registration purposes. Further enquiries about the Forum can be sent to the GLOBE International Secretariat at the same e-mail address. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points