Decision COP VII/29
UNEP/CBD/COP/DEC/VII/29
Transfer of technology and technology cooperation (Articles 16 to 19)
Recalling principle 9 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development which states that States should cooperate to strengthen endogenous capacity-building for sustainable development by improving scientific understanding through exchanges of scientific and technological knowledge, and by enhancing the development, adaptation, diffusion and transfer of technologies, including new and innovative technologies,
Also recalling paragraphs 105 and 106 of the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which call upon States to promote, facilitate and finance, as appropriate, access to and the development, transfer and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies and corresponding know-how, in particular to developing countries and countries with economies in transition on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed,
Noting with appreciation the role of the Norway/United Nations Conference on Technology Transfer and Capacity-building, held in Norway from 23 to 27 June 2003, in the development of the programme of work on technology transfer and scientific and technological cooperation, as requested in decision VI/30,
Mindful that the activities under its programme of work on technology transfer and technological and scientific cooperation shall be part of a comprehensive implementation support strategy for the Convention on Biological Diversity consistent with the multi-year programme of work and the Strategic Plan of the Convention, and should draw upon experiences from other international conventions and processes such as the UNFCCC or the Intergovernmental Strategic Plan on Technology Support and Capacity Building under preparation by UNEP,
3.Invites Parties and relevant international organizations, and requests the Executive Secretary, to carry out the activities under their respective responsibilities as spelled out in the programme of work up to the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, as a first phase in the implementation of the programme of work;
4.Invites the United Nations Environment Programme, upon approval by the Governing Council, to take into account the need for technology transfer and technology cooperation and capacity building under the Convention when preparing and implementing the Intergovernmental Strategic Plan on Technology Support and Capacity-Building, in order to ensure synergy and support in the implementation of the programme of work on technology transfer and cooperation, and to work with UNDP as the leader on capacity building in the United Nations;
5.Invites Parties, in accordance to their identified needs and priorities and taking into account the information gaps identified in the synthesis report of information contained in national reports on technology transfer and cooperation (UNEP/CBD/COP/7/INF/9), to convene national, subregional and regional workshops to exchange information and experiences on, and to enhance capacity for, successful cooperation, transfer, diffusion and adaptation of environmentally sound technologies;
(a)Provide advice on the development of proposals on the possible role of the clearing-house mechanism as a central mechanism for exchange of information on technologies, as a core element in its role to facilitate scientific and technical cooperation, and for facilitating technology transfer and cooperation and to promote and facilitate technical and scientific cooperation relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and for technologies that make use of genetic resources and do not cause significant damage to the environment;
(b)Develop guidance for implementation by national clearing-house mechanism nodes for common or similar frameworks for identifying the availability of relevant technologies to enhance international cooperation and to facilitate the interoperability with relevant existing systems of national and international information exchange, including technology and patent databases;
(c)Assist in the implementation of proposals for enhancing the clearing-house mechanism as a central mechanism for exchange of information on technologies, as a core element in its role to promote and facilitate scientific and technical cooperation, and for facilitating and promoting technology transfer and cooperation and for the promotion of technical and scientific cooperation as adopted by the Conference of the Parties;
7.Requests the Executive Secretary to establish an expert group on technology transfer and scientific and technical cooperation, balanced regionally as well as in respect to expertise, which shall assist the Executive Secretary, through electronic consultations and long-distance communications as well as through meetings in conjunction with the informal advisory committee of the clearing-house mechanism, in the:
(a)Preparation of proposals on options to apply institutional, administrative, legislative and policy measures and mechanisms, including best practices, as well as to overcome barriers, to facilitate access to and adaptation of technologies on the public domain and to proprietary technologies by developing countries and countries with economies in transition; and in particular, on measures and mechanisms that:
(ii)Provide, in accordance with existing international obligations, incentives to private-sector actors as well as public research institutions in developed country Parties, to encourage cooperation and transfer of technologies to developing countries, through, e.g., technology transfer programmes or joint-ventures;
(iii)Promote and advance priority access for Parties to the results and benefits arising from technologies based upon genetic resources provided by those Parties, in accordance with Article19, paragraph 2 of the Convention, and to promote the effective participation in related technological research by those Parties;
8.Requests Parties, governments and relevant organizations to develop means to provide access to translation services for scientific and technical information, including by identifying sources of free translation and/or by finding funding for translation;
9.Invites Parties, governments, the private sector and relevant civil society organizations to develop innovative approaches and means of technology transfer and cooperation such as Type 2 partnerships in accordance with the outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD);
10.Urges Parties, governments and relevant organizations to identify further areas in which international or regional cooperative initiatives – such as the proposed cooperative initiative on marine alien species – would support implementation of the Convention;
11.Requests the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice and the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit sharing to identify, during the development or review of work programmes, methods to increase the contribution of organizations, communities, academia and the private sector to the development and dissemination of scientific knowledge and the diffusion of technology needed for the implementation of those work programmes;
12.Agrees that the Conference of the Parties at its eighth meeting will, under the agenda item “refining mechanisms to support implementation”, review the results of the work referred to the previous paragraph, and will identify generic approaches for broadening the practical scientific and technical support for the implementation of the Convention;
15.Requests the Executive Secretary to consult with multilateral financial institutions, regional banks and other relevant funding bodies to consider ways and means of involving them in the work of the Convention and in the efforts of Parties in its implementation, and in particular to identify mechanisms for financial support of capacity development, technology transfer and scientific, technical and technological cooperation.
- Body
- Conference of the Parties (COP)
- Meeting
- COP-079 - 20 February, 2004Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Subjects
- 3 3 Clearing-House Mechanisms
- Decision document
- VII/29Transfer of technology and technology cooperation (Articles 16 to 19)
- Documents
- UNEP/CBD/COP/11/INF/1
- Related decisions