The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety,
I.Global Environment Facility support for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
1.Notes with concern the low number of projects and the total amount of funding requested by Parties from the Global Environment Facility to support implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety during the fifth replenishment (GEF-5) period;
2.Welcomes the sixth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund and expresses its appreciation to the countries that contributed to the sixth replenishment;
3.Also welcomes the GEF-6 Biodiversity Focal Area Strategy,
4 which includes Programme 5 on Implementing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and
takes note of the indicative programming targets for the various Biodiversity Focal Area objectives and programmes;
4.Urges eligible Parties to prioritize biosafety projects during the programming of their GEF-6 national allocations under the System for Transparent Allocation of Resources (STAR), taking into account their obligations under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the Strategic Plan for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety for the period 2011-2020, and the guidance of the Conference of the Parties to the financial mechanism;
5.Encourages Parties to explore the possibility of incorporating biosafety activities into multi-focal-area projects, including the proposed “integrated approach pilots”, as well as projects to be developed under the other biodiversity focal area programmes;
6.Also encourages Parties to cooperate at the regional and subregional levels and to request support from the Global Environment Facility for joint projects in order to maximize synergies and opportunities for cost-effective sharing of resources, information, experiences and expertise;
7.Invites Parties and other Governments to engage in activities to raise awareness of relevant government officials (including GEF operational focal points) regarding the importance of biosafety and the national obligations under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety with a view to ensuring due consideration of biosafety in the programming of the national GEF allocations for biodiversity;
8.Urges Parties to improve their efforts to access funding for biosafety projects from the Global Environment Facility, inter alia, through better coordination between Cartagena Protocol national focal points, CBD national focal points, and GEF operational focal points;
9.Also urges Parties to cooperate in organizing regional workshops with a view to raising awareness of the Cartagena Protocol as a tool for sustainable development and the importance of fulfilling obligations under the Protocol; identifying available local or regional capacities that may be utilized; and designing projects that have a better chance of being approved;
10.Further urges Parties and invites other Governments to integrate and prioritize biosafety within their national biodiversity strategies and action plans and national development plans and programmes, as appropriate;
11.Encourages the implementing agencies of the Global Environment Facility to make sufficient provisions to support eligible Parties in developing and implementing biosafety projects;
12.Requests the Executive Secretary to communicate with the Global Environment Facility operational focal points concerning the need to consider programming part of the national GEF allocation to support national implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which is a binding international agreement under the Convention on Biological Diversity, taking into account paragraph 1 of decision BS-VI/5 and the fact that the Global Environment Facility is the financial mechanism for the Protocol;
13.Invites the Global Environment Facilities Agencies and other relevant organizations, to organize regional and subregional workshops for the Cartagena Protocol and the Convention national focal points, the Global Environment Facility operational focal points and relevant stakeholders to strengthen their capacities and foster sharing of experiences and lessons learned regarding GEF funding for biosafety projects;
II.Further guidance to the financial mechanism
14.Recommends that the Conference of the Parties, in adopting its further guidance to the financial mechanism with respect to support for the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, invite the Global Environment Facility:
(a)To fund, in view of the experience gained during the second national reporting process, the following activities within the Biodiversity Focal Area Set Aside for eligible Parties, in particular those that have reported to the Compliance Committee difficulties in complying with the Protocol, with a view to fulfilling their national reporting obligation under the Protocol:
(i)Preparation of the third national reports under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, in accordance with paragraph 2 (g) of
decision BS-VI/5;
(ii)Preparation, by Parties that have not yet done so, of their first national reports under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, in accordance with decision BS-V/14;
(b)To fund the following activities of eligible Parties within Programme 5 on Implementing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety under the Biodiversity Focal Area:
(i)Implementation of national biosafety frameworks, in accordance with paragraph 2 (h) of
decision BS-VI/5;
(ii)Supporting capacity-building activities in the thematic work related to the Strategic Plan, taking into account the capacity-building needs of eligible Parties;
(iii)Supporting the ratification and implementation of the Nagoya – Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress, including, inter alia, capacity-building, information sharing and awareness-raising activities.
(c)To consider mechanisms for:
(i)Supporting the updating and finalization of national biosafety frameworks;
(ii)Facilitating access to GEF funding for projects supporting the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety;
(iii)Increasing the level of utilization of GEF funding for biosafety;
and report to the Conference of the Parties at its thirteenth meeting.
(d)To promptly evaluate the BCH III project, currently under development, addressing the need for capacity-building for the use of the Biosafety Clearing-House of all eligible Parties not yet supported through the implementation of the previous United Nations Environment Programme-Global Environment Facility BCH I and II projects;
(e)To support Parties in the collection of national data and conducting consultations on the third national reports;
(f)To provide funds to implement the capacity-building activities referred to in paragraph 13 of
decision BS-VII/12 on risk assessment and risk management;
(g)To support capacity-building activities on socio-economic considerations as specified in paragraphs 2 (n) and (o) of
decision BS-VI/5 (appendix II of
decision XI/5 of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity).
Mobilization of additional resources
15.Invites the Conference of the Parties at its twelfth meeting to take into consideration resource mobilization for the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in its consideration of agenda item 14 on resource mobilization;
16.Urges Parties that have not yet done so to expedite the enactment of their national biosafety laws to pave the way for securing dedicated funding allocations for biosafety in their national budgets;
17.Also urges Parties and invites other Governments to implement, as appropriate, the following strategic measures within the overall framework of the strategy for resource mobilization in support of the Convention on Biological Diversity, with a view to mobilizing additional financial resources for implementation of the Protocol:
(a)Mainstream biosafety into the national development plans, such as Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategies, to make possible to secure national budget support;
(b)Establish strong outreach programmes targeting key policymakers, parliamentarians, the general public and other stakeholders, to promote their awareness of biosafety issues and raise the profile of biosafety among other national priorities;
(c)Strengthen the capacity of the personnel dealing with biosafety to effectively engage and encourage policymakers, decision makers and officials from other sectors about the importance of biosafety and to secure their support;
(d)Identify “biosafety champions” to promote awareness and greater understanding of biotechnology and its regulation among the public and parliamentarians;
(e)Link biosafety to the issues of national concerns and priority for each country so as to attract the attention of policymakers;
18.Requests the Executive Secretary, subject to the availability of funds, to take into account biosafety concerns when providing technical support and guidance and capacity-building, including through regional and subregional workshops, in order to assist Parties to identify their funding needs and gaps in biosafety and to integrate biosafety in the development of their national resource mobilization strategies for the implementation of the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
