South-South Cooperation

COP Decisions on South-South Cooperation

Decision X/23

The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP 10) adopted Decision X/23 welcoming the Multi-Year Plan of Action for South-South Cooperation on Biodiversity for Development, Plan as adopted by the Group of 77 and China at the South-South Cooperation Forum held 17 October 2010 UNEP/CBD/COP/10/18/Add.1/Rev.1, as an important contribution to the implementation of the 2011-2020 Strategic Plan of the Convention. The decision also requests the Working Group on the Review of Implementation, at its fourth meeting, to examine and further develop the Plan for consideration at the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and calls on Parties, other governments, regional and international organizations, UN agencies and NGOs, to contribute to the further development of the Plan and to find ways and means for mainstreaming South-South Cooperation into national planning.

COP 10 has also welcomed the offer of the Republic of Korea, through its National Institute of Biological Resources, to host an expert meeting in early 2011 to further discuss modalities of South-South and triangular cooperation and the roadmap towards the possible adoption of the Plan at COP 11.

Decision IX/25

In recognition of the importance of South-South Cooperation for development in the context of the Millennium Development Goals, the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the 2005 World Outcomes, COP 9 adopted Decision IX/25.

Among other things, this decision encourages Parties to facilitate projects and programmes aimed at joint conservation and sustainable use of cross border ecosystems to aid in halting biodiversity loss. Parties are invited to organize a South-South Cooperation Forum on Biodiversity for Development for COP 10 in Nagoya, Japan. Decision IX/25 also requests the Executive Secretary to report on a Multi-year Plan of Action on Biodiversity for Development at COP 10.