. Scientific assessments: development of methodologies and identification of pilot studies
Scientific assessments: development of methodologies and identification of pilot studies
The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice
1. Notes that assessment processes should:
(a) Be initiated as the result of an intergovernmental recommendation and conducted within a set of agreed procedures, rules, and frameworks;
(b) Be focused, cost-effective and transparent, avoid duplication and be delivered in a timely manner;
(c) Be based on scientific principles;
(d) Be based on existing knowledge and address knowledge gaps;
(e) Be management and/or policy-oriented;
(f) Engage a wide spectrum of societal interest;
(g) Be carried out at the appropriate level(s) (global, regional, national, local), focusing on the regional level, and with the involvement of appropriate expertise, in line with decision V/20, paragraph 31;
(h) Contribute to capacity-building and enhancement of institutions and promote scientific cooperation, education and public awareness;
2. Notes the usefulness of ongoing and planned assessments, including the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the Global International Waters Assessment, the
Forest Resources Assessment 2000, the reports of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on the state of the worlds plant and animal genetic resources, and the IUCN Red List assessment process, and stresses the importance of using information from such assessments and of strengthening linkages with relevant organizations;
3. Stresses the importance of including information from assessments in national reports and of making use of existing information from national reports in assessment processes;
4. Notes also the value of well-targeted rapid assessments to address urgent and emerging issues;
5. Notes further that there is insufficient understanding of biodiversity, its value and its rates of loss, especially at ecosystem levels, of biodiversity thresholds in relation to ecosystem functioning, and of the effectiveness of measures to address biodiversity loss, and agrees to develop a programme to address progressively these topics and reduce the degree of uncertainty associated with them, and to include the identification or development of criteria and indicators of these topics in assessment processes, as appropriate;
6. Decides, in order to advance assessments on current priority issues, and to test a range of methods and modalities for assessments, in accordance with paragraph 29 (b) of decision V/20 and paragraphs 1 and 9 of the present recommendation, to initiate assessments on the following issues:
(a) Forest biological diversity, through the ongoing work of the ad hoc technical expert group established by decision IV/4, which should draw upon, inter alia, the results of the Forest Resources Assessment 2000;
(b) The development of rapid assessment methods for the biodiversity of inland water ecosystems, in cooperation with the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands;
(c) The development of rapid assessment methods for marine and coastal biological diversity, in particular guidelines for ecosystem evaluation and assessment;
(d) The impacts of invasive alien species;
(e) Interlinkages between biological diversity and climate change, in line with recommendation VI/7 of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, on biological diversity and climate change, including cooperation with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;
7. Invites the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment to integrate assessments of the following topics in its work:
(a) The interrelationship between biodiversity and climate change, in line with recommendation VI/7 of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice;
(b) Inland water biological diversity, its uses and threats;
(c) Further aspects of marine and coastal biological diversity, drawing upon the work already conducted by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice;
(d) Further aspects of forest biodiversity, as identified by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice on the basis of the work of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Forest Biological Diversity; /
8. Requests the Executive Secretary to make the necessary arrangements in consultation with the Bureau of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, taking into account available resources, to carry out the pilot assessment projects referred to above, drawing on the project briefs provided in annex III of the note by the Executive Secretary on scientific assessment (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/6/9), as appropriate;
9. Agrees to improve scientific assessment processes under the Convention, in particular with regard to the selection of experts, peer review, and approval of findings, and, in this context, decides:
(a) To make better use of the clearing-house mechanism and the roster of experts;
(b) To seek greater involvement from leading national and regional scientific organizations and institutions;
(c) To draw upon the procedures outlined in annexes IV and VI of the report of the Oslo brainstorming meeting on scientific assessments (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/6/9/Add.1);
10. Requests the Executive Secretary to identify ways and means to strengthen the assessment capacities of developing countries;
11. Requests the Executive Secretary to develop and maintain a list of ongoing and proposed assessments within the various thematic programmes and cross-cutting areas of the Convention;
12. Agrees to undertake the review of the assessments in paragraphs 6 and 7 of the present recommendation;
13. Agrees also to consider progress reports from these and other relevant assessments, as a standing item at its meetings, and to review methodologies in the light of experience;
14. Recommends that the Conference of the Parties, at its sixth meeting, examine the need for financial resources to support the assessment processes under the Convention, including through guidance to the financial mechanism, as appropriate.