XVI/14.Incentive measures: progress in implementing decision X/44

1.Takes note of the progress reported by Parties and other Governments in implementing decision X/44 on incentive measures, thereby contributing to the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, and in particular Aichi Biodiversity Targets 2, 3 and 4, as well as to the Strategy for Resource Mobilization;

2.Notes existing efforts by a number of Parties to prepare national studies on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity, and encourages other Parties and Governments to also consider, as appropriate, the preparation of such studies, making use of the findings of the international study on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) as well as of similar work at the national or regional levels, involving all relevant stakeholders, and to identify mechanisms and measures to integrate the values of biodiversity into relevant national and local policies, programmes and planning processes, as well as reporting systems, in a manner adapted to national circumstances;

3.Cognizant of the need to feed the results of these studies into national policy development and implementation in a systematic and coherent manner, invites Parties and other Governments that plan to undertake national studies on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity, to ensure that these studies and the revised national biodiversity strategy and action plans are mutually supportive;

4.Noting the considerable analytical work that has already been undertaken on harmful incentives by international organizations and initiatives such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the World Trade Organization (WTO);

5.Recognizes that eliminating, phasing out, or reforming incentives, including subsidies, harmful for biodiversity will make positive incentive measures for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity more effective and/or less costly;

6.Invites Parties and other Governments to take into consideration in their policy planning, the linkages between the elimination, phase out, or reform of harmful incentives, including subsidies, and the promotion of positive incentive measures for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, consistent and in harmony with the Convention and other relevant international obligations, including in revised national biodiversity strategies and action plans, taking into account national socio-economic conditions;

7.Encourages Parties and invites other Governments to consider, in accordance with the objectives of revised national biodiversity strategies and action plans, including specific criteria on biodiversity into national procurement plans, national strategies for sustainable consumption and production, and similar planning frameworks, as a contribution to implementing Aichi Biodiversity Target 4, and to strengthening the science base and methodologies to enable this to be done more effectively;

8.Encourages Parties to engage the private sector on ways and means to contribute to the national implementation of the Convention, such as through the establishment of business and biodiversity platforms/networks, the development of tools to promote the consideration of biodiversity in business activities, including guidance to assist business in reporting their environmental impacts, in particular impacts on biodiversity, and to support related international initiatives;

9.Invites Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and initiatives, and bilateral and multilateral funding organizations, to develop proposals for extending longer-term technical support and capacity-building on valuation methodologies and the integration of the values of biodiversity into relevant national and local policies, programmes and planning processes, including national biodiversity strategy and action plans, as well as reporting systems, including national accounting, as appropriate;

10.Notes the support of international organizations and initiatives, including, among others, the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD GM), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank and its Global Partnership for Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), to the efforts at the global, regional and national levels in identifying and eliminating, phasing out or reforming incentives that are harmful to biodiversity, in promoting positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, consistent and in harmony with the Convention and other relevant international obligations, and in assessing and mainstreaming the values of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, and invites these and other relevant organizations and initiatives to continue and further intensify this work, including continued support for capacity building at the national level;

11.Takes note of the ongoing work of the United Nations Statistics Commission to include experimental ecosystem accounts into its revised System of Environmental-Economic Accounts (SEEA), thereby supporting the incorporation of biodiversity, as appropriate, in national accounting, as foreseen by Aichi Biodiversity Target 2;

12.Requests the Executive Secretary, with a view to supporting progress towards the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, in particular targets 2, 3 and 4, and in mobilizing resources for biodiversity, to: