Decision COP XII/12
UNEP/CBD/COP/DEC/XII/12
Article 8(j) and related provisions
3.Takes note with appreciation of the outcome document of the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, held in New York in September 2014, which renewed the commitment for the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
4.In the light of the outcomes of the mid-term review of the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, including of progress towards Aichi Biodiversity Target 18, invites Parties, other Governments, international organizations, indigenous and local communities and other relevant organizations to submit information on the implementation of Article 8(j) and related provisions, and requests the Executive Secretary to compile and analyse information received and to make it available for consideration by the Ad Hoc Open-ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions at its ninth meeting and, as appropriate, during the period of implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020;
5.Decides that one meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions be organized prior to the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, with the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities;
6.Welcomes the work carried out under the Working Group on Indicators of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity and other international organizations, in particular the Community-Based Monitoring and Information System approach, to operationalize the indicators on the status of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices and customary sustainable use of biological diversity, to assess progress towards implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets;
7.Requests the Executive Secretary, in collaboration with Parties, other Governments, relevant international organizations, the Working Group on Indicators of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership and interested stakeholders, and subject to the availability of resources, to continue to organize and facilitate international technical workshops and regional workshops on indicators on the status of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices and customary sustainable use and to further explore the added value of contributions from indigenous and local communities’ Community-Based Monitoring and Information Systems and of applying a Multiple Evidence Base approach when monitoring indicators on the status of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices and customary sustainable use, in order to assess progress towards implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and to inform Parties, organizations and stakeholders of progress through the Traditional Knowledge Information Portal;
8.Requests the Executive Secretary to transmit information on Community-Based Monitoring and Information Systems, as well as the note by the Executive Secretary on indicators relevant for traditional knowledge and customary sustainable use to the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services;
9.Encourages Parties and indigenous and local communities to consider how indigenous and local communities might effectively participate in the development, collection and analysis of data, including through Community-Based Monitoring, and further explore how indigenous and local communities’ Community-Based Monitoring and Information Systems can contribute to monitoring of Aichi Target indicators, and how a Multiple Evidence Base approach be applied for validation of such data generated from diverse knowledge systems on equal terms. These efforts might contribute to future national reports and the review of the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011 2020 and the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, in particular Target 18;
10.Invites the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to consider the potential contributions of Community-Based Monitoring and Information Systems in meeting the objectives of the Platform when implementing work programmes of relevance such as work by the Task Force on Indigenous and Local Knowledge;
11.Invites the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to inform the next meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions on the work of the Platform related to traditional knowledge;
12.Invites members of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to consider the inclusion of indigenous and local community representatives, when making nominations to the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel and other processes under the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services;
13.Invites Parties, Governments, relevant international organizations, indigenous and local communities, and interested stakeholders to submit information and data on status and trends in traditional occupations related to conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and requests the Executive Secretary to make a compilation of the information available for the consideration of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions at its ninth meeting;
14.Encourages Parties, other Governments, relevant international organizations, indigenous and local communities and interested stakeholders, and requests the Executive Secretary to consider the advice and recommendations of the in-depth dialogue on: “Connecting traditional knowledge systems and science, such as under IPBES, including gender dimensions” when implementing the relevant areas of work of the Convention; and further encourages Parties to consider reporting on progress in future national reports;
15.Requests the Executive Secretary to transmit the summary of the in-depth dialogue to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, in order to contribute to its work on the development of guidelines to consider traditional knowledge in the process under the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services;
16.Decides that the topic of the third in-depth dialogue, to be held at the ninth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions, shall be “Challenges and opportunities for international and regional cooperation in the protection of shared traditional knowledge across borders for the strengthening of traditional knowledge and the fulfilment of three objectives of the Convention, in harmony with Nature/Mother Earth.”
2.Invites Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations, indigenous and local communities and stakeholders to implement the plan of action on customary sustainable use of biological diversity, taking into account diverse national circumstances including legal and policy regimes, and to report on progress to the Executive Secretary as well as through the national reporting process;
3.Decides that the development and implementation of all activities of the plan of action on customary sustainable use of biological diversity should be undertaken with the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities, in particular women and youth, taking into consideration the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
4.Acknowledges that other initiatives, such as the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI), consistent with decisions X/32 and XI/25, and in accordance with other international obligations, are contributing to the facilitation of the customary sustainable use of biological diversity;
5.Invites Parties to include in requests to donors, support for indigenous and local communities to organize themselves to develop community plans and protocols to document, map, and register their community conservation areas, as well as to prepare, implement and monitor their community conservation plans and for support to countries to strengthen recognition of indigenous and local community conservation areas;
6.Invites Parties, other Governments, international organizations, programmes and funds to provide funds and technical support to developing country Parties and indigenous and local communities for implementation of programmes and projects that promote customary sustainable use of biological diversity;
7.Requests the Executive Secretary to compile and analyse the information received pursuant to paragraph 2 above and to make this information available to the next meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions and through the Traditional Knowledge Information Portal of the Convention;
8.Also requests the Executive Secretary, in partnership with relevant organizations and subject to the availability of funding, to support implementation of the plan of action on customary sustainable use of biological diversity through organization of regional and subregional workshops and other capacity-building activities involving indigenous and local communities.
Recalling that, according to Article 8(j) of the Convention, Parties to the Convention shall, as far as possible and as appropriate, and subject to their respective national legislation, respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles (hereafter referred to as “traditional knowledge”) relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge, innovations and practices,
Also recalling that, according to Article 17 of the Convention, Parties to the Convention shall facilitate the exchange of information, from all publicly available sources, relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking into account the special needs of developing countries, and that such exchange of information shall include, inter alia, traditional knowledge. Exchange of information could also include the repatriation of information from gene banks and other ex-situ storages of biological resources and materials,
1.Decides, subject to the availability of resources, to convene a meeting of a regionally balanced group of government-nominated experts on the repatriation of traditional knowledge relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, including a proportionate number of observers, with at least seven observers from indigenous and local communities, nominated by them, and other observers from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) as well as other relevant organizations, reflecting the expertise of the broad range of actors involved in the repatriation of traditional knowledge of relevance to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, with a view to developing draft voluntary guidelines to promote and enhance the repatriation of traditional knowledge relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, for consideration by the ninth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions;
2.Invites Parties, other Governments, UNESCO, WIPO, UNPFII, other relevant organizations as well as indigenous and local community organizations, to submit relevant information, including on best practices, and their views on the development of the draft voluntary guidelines to promote and enhance the repatriation of traditional knowledge relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity to the Executive Secretary, having regard to the submissions already compiled in document UNEP/CBD/WG8J/8/INF/7, as well as the best practices summarized in section V of the note by the Executive Secretary on development of best-practice guidelines for the repatriation of traditional knowledge relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity (UNEP/CBD/WG8J/8/5);
(c) To transmit the result of the work of the technical expert group on the draft voluntary guidelines as well as the compilation of information and views referred to in paragraph 3 (a) above, to the Ad Hoc Open ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions at its ninth meeting, for its consideration, and with a view to consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its thirteenth meeting;
4.Requests the Executive Secretary to make the information and views submitted as well as their compilation available on a dedicated web page of the Traditional Knowledge Information Portal of the Convention as a tool to assist indigenous and local communities and potential entities repatriating traditional knowledge, in their efforts to repatriate traditional knowledge relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity;
Further noting the need to advance tasks 7, 10 and 12 in a manner that avoids any inconsistencies with the Nagoya Protocol, avoids duplication and overlap of work undertaken in other international fora, and takes into account relevant developments, including under the Nagoya Protocol, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
1.Decides to implement tasks 7, 10 and 12 in an integrated manner that is mutually supportive of the Nagoya Protocol and of the work undertaken in other international fora through the development of voluntary guidelines with the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities that will assist Parties and Governments in the development of legislation or other mechanisms, including national action plans and sui generis systems, as appropriate, for an effective implementation of Article 8(j) and related provisions, that recognize, safeguard and fully guarantee the rights of indigenous and local communities over their knowledge, innovations and practices, within the context of the Convention;
(i)Develop guidelines for the development of mechanisms, legislation or other appropriate initiatives to ensure that private and public institutions interested in using such knowledge, practices and innovations obtain the prior informed consent or approval and involvement of the indigenous and local communities;
(ii)Develop guidelines for the development of mechanisms, legislation or other appropriate initiatives to ensure that indigenous and local communities obtain a fair and equitable share of benefits arising from the use and application of their knowledge, innovations and practices;
3.To ensure that advances made can contribute in a timely fashion to the effective implementation of the Convention, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, as well as the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol, decides that the Conference of the Parties at its thirteen meeting will consider for adoption the voluntary guidance developed under each sub-task as a stand-alone but complementary element of the overarching task;
4.Invites Parties, Governments, relevant international organizations and indigenous and local communities to submit their views, including information on community protocols, model clauses, best practices, experiences and practical examples for the prior informed consent or approval and involvement processes for access to the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and for the sharing of benefits arising from the use of this knowledge with those communities, and their complementarity with the Nagoya Protocol, on the sub-tasks (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) referred to in paragraph 2, Phase I, above to the Executive Secretary;
5.Requests the Executive Secretary to compile and analyse these views taking into account relevant work in related international processes and to draft guidelines for sub-tasks (i), (ii) and (iii) and, following a gap analysis, draft a glossary for sub-task (iv) and to make them available to the ninth meeting of the Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions for its consideration;
2.Takes note of the revised elements for sui generis systems for the protection, preservation and promotion of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities as contained in the note by the Executive Secretary on the subject and invites Parties to make use of them as may be appropriate in their particular circumstances and in accordance with national legislation;
3.Recognizing the relevance of the possible elements of sui generis systems for the protection, preservation and promotion of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities as well as the draft glossary of terms as contained in the note by the Executive Secretary on the subject to tasks 7, 10 and 12, and taking into account the need to further refine the glossary of terms, invites the Ad Hoc Open-ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions to use the possible elements and draft glossary, as appropriate, in its work on those tasks;
4.Invites Parties, other Governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and indigenous and local communities to submit views on possible elements of sui generis systems as contained in the note by the Executive Secretary and experiences regarding sui generis systems for the protection, preservation and promotion of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities, including community protocols and other forms of legal provisions, to the Secretariat;
5.Requests the Executive Secretary to produce a technical series publication that draws from a geographically balanced set of existing case studies and examples related to the possible elements of sui generis systems taking into account the information submitted and experience gathered on a broad range of sui generis systems for the protection, preservation and promotion of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities with a view to informing the work of Parties, other Governments and indigenous and local communities on the development of sui generis systems, including on future priority work on implementation of tasks 7, 10 and 12, and to provide for a peer review of the final draft;
6.Urges Parties and other Governments to recognize, support and encourage the development of local sui generis systems by indigenous and local communities, including through the development of community protocols, as part of national action plans for the protection, preservation and promotion of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices within national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and invites Parties and other Governments to report on these initiatives through the national reporting process, the Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions, and through the Traditional Knowledge Information Portal of the Convention;
7.Encourages Parties and other Governments to develop mechanisms to promote compliance with sui generis systems for the protection, preservation and promotion of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities at national level, as well as tools to promote international cooperation in this regard;
8.Requests the Executive Secretary to continue to inform the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) of the World Intellectual Property Organization on the work carried out regarding sui generis systems for the protection, preservation and promotion of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities, including working modalities for future consideration of this item, and other matters of mutual interest, and to continue engaging with the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore with a view to ensuring complementarity and avoiding overlaps.
Recalling paragraph 2 of decision XI/14 G, in which it requested the Ad Hoc Open-ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions to consider the recommendations of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues concerning the use of the terminology “indigenous peoples and local communities” and all its implications for the Convention,
Emphasizing that the subject matter of Article 8(j) is traditional knowledge, which is subject to national legislation, and related provisions, including Article 10(c), which is customary sustainable use, within the scope of the Convention, and that each Contracting Party is expected to implement these provisions as far as possible, as appropriate,
Recognizing the advice of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, which was given on an informal basis that “… in order for the Parties to ensure that the use of different terminology in a decision would not be construed as a “subsequent agreement”, they should make clear in their decision that the use of different terminology was on an exceptional basis and without prejudice to the terminology used in the Convention and should not be taken into account for purposes of interpreting or applying the Convention”,
(c)That the use of the terminology “indigenous peoples and local communities” in future decisions and secondary documents shall not constitute a context for the purpose of interpretation of the Convention on Biological Diversity as provided for in article 31, paragraph 2, of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties or a subsequent agreement or subsequent practice among Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity as provided for in article 31, paragraph 3 (a) and (b) or special meaning as provided for in article 31, paragraph 4, of the Vienna Convention the Law of Treaties. This is without prejudice to the interpretation or application of the Convention in accordance with Article 31, paragraph 3(c) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties;
3.Notes the recommendations arising from the eleventh and twelfth sessions of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and requests the Executive Secretary to continue to inform the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on developments of mutual interest.
- Body
- Conference of the Parties (COP)
- Meeting
- COP-126 - 17 October, 2014Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea
- Actors
- 69 6 Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities 1 Donors 13 Parties 8 Other Government(s) 16 Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity 10 Stakeholder(s) 3 Government(s) 2 Relevant organizations 2 International organizations 1 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 1 World Intellectual Property Organization 6 WG8J
- AICHI targets
-
1
- Subjects
- 11 1 Traditional Knowledge, Innovations and Practices 5 Strategic Plan 2011-2020 4 Aichi Biodiversity Targets 1 Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing
- Decision document
- XII/12Article 8(j) and related provisions
- Documents
- UNEP/CBD/A8J/EM/2015/1/2UNEP/CBD/A8J/EM/2015/1/INF/1UNEP/CBD/SBI/1/INF/2UNEP/CBD/WG8J/8/5UNEP/CBD/WG8J/8/6/ADD1UNEP/CBD/WG8J/8/INF/7UNEP/CBD/WG8J/9/2UNEP/CBD/WG8J/9/2/ADD1UNEP/CBD/WG8J/9/5UNEP/CBD/WG8J/9/6UNEP/CBD/WG8J/9/INF/1UNEP/CBD/WG8J/9/INF/1/ADD1UNEP/CBD/WG8J/9/INF/3UNEP/CBD/WG8J/9/INF/4http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/69/2http://www.un.org/en/ga/69/meetings/indigenous/#&panel1-1https://www.cbd.int/doc/notifications/2017/ntf-2017-006-8j-en.pdf
- Related decisions