Decision COP IX/34

The Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity

1. Welcomes the annual contribution to date of US$ 1,040,400, to be increased at 2 per cent per year, from the host country Canada and the Province of Quebec to the operation of the Secretariat, of which 83.5% has been allocated per annum to offset contributions from the Parties to the Convention for the biennium 2009-2010;

2. Recognizing the negative effect of recent currency fluctuations on the budget of the Convention, and noting the consequent projected shortfall of US$ 800,000 in the core programme budget of the Convention for the 2007-2008 biennium, approves the use of the working capital reserve of the General Trust Fund (BY) of the Convention on Biological Diversity to cover any shortfall in the Convention budget incurred at the end of the 2007-2008 biennium;

3. Requests the Executive Secretary, based on information from the Trustee, to advise Parties as soon as possible after the date of closure of the accounts of the trust funds under the Convention for the biennium 2007-2008, of the amount used from the working capital reserve to cover shortfalls in the 2007-2008 budget of the Convention;

4. Decides to replenish the working capital reserve with effect from 1 January 2009 through assessed contributions to the General Trust Fund (BY) of the Convention on Biological Diversity;

5. Approves a core (BY) programme budget of $11,391,900 for the year 2009 and of $12,355,100 for the year 2010 for the purposes listed in the table 1 below;

6. Adopts the scale of assessments for the apportionment of expenses for 2009 and 2010 as contained in the table 6 below;

7. Approves a Secretariat staffing table for the programme budget contained in table 2 below;

8. Reaffirms a working capital reserve at a level of 5 per cent of the core programme budget (BY Trust Fund) expenditure, including programme support costs;

9. Notes with concern that a number of Parties have not paid their contributions to the core budget (BY Trust Fund) for 2007 and prior years; 

10. Urges Parties that have still not paid their contributions to the core budget (BY Trust Fund) for 2007 and prior years; to do so without delay and requests the Executive Secretary to publish and regularly update information on the status of contributions to the Convention's Trust Funds (BY, BE, BZ and VB);

11. Decides that with regard to contributions due from 1 January 2005 onwards, Parties whose contributions are in arrears for two (2) or more years will not be eligible to become a member of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties; this will only apply in the case of Parties that are not least developed countries or small island developing States;

12. Authorizes the Executive Secretary to enter into arrangements with any Party whose contributions are in arrears for two or more years to mutually agree on a “schedule of payments” for such a Party, to clear all outstanding arrears, within six years depending on the financial circumstances of the Party in arrears and pay future contributions by the due date, and report on the implementation of any such arrangement to the next meeting of the Bureau and to the Conference of the Parties;

13. Authorizes the Executive Secretary to transfer resources among the programmes between each of the main appropriation lines set out in table 1 below up to an aggregate of 15 per cent of the total programme budget, provided that a further limitation of up to a maximum of 25 per cent of each such appropriation line shall apply; 

14. Authorizes the Executive Secretary to enter into commitments up to the level of the approved budget, drawing on available cash resources, including unspent balances, contributions from previous financial periods and miscellaneous income;

15. Decides that the trust funds (BY, BE, BZ VB) for the Convention shall be extended for the period of two years, beginning 1 January 2010 and ending 31 December 2011;

16. Takes note of the funding estimates for the:

17. Urges all Parties and States not Parties to the Convention, as well as governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and other sources, to contribute to the appropriate trust funds of the Convention;

18. Reaffirms the importance of full and active participation of the developing country parties, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as Parties with Economies in Transition in the activities of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention and requests the Secretariat to remind Parties on the need for contribution to the special voluntary Trust Fund (BZ) at least six months prior to the ordinary meetings of the Conference of the Parties, reflecting on the financial need, and urges Parties in the position to do so to ensure that the contributions are paid at least three months before the Conference of the Parties meets;

19. Authorizes the Executive Secretary, subject to the agreement of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties and providing that reimbursements are made to the BY Trust Fund as soon as pledges materialize, to draw up to an amount of US$150,000 from surplus and savings from the BY Trust Fund to facilitate participation of developing country Parties, in particular the least developed countries and the small Island developing States, as well as Parties with economies in transition, for the biennium 2009-2010, in priority meetings identified in the core budget (BY) Trust Fund. This authority can only be used in respect of temporary shortfalls in the special voluntary Trust Fund (BZ), for which written pledges have been made but for which resources have not yet been received by the Executive Secretary;

20. Further authorizes the Executive Secretary to consult and subject to the agreement of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties,  to make any adjustments that may be necessary in the servicing of the programme of the work as foreseen in the core budget (BY Trust Fund) for the biennium 2009-2010, including the postponement of meetings, in the event that sufficient  resources are not available to the Secretariat in a timely fashion from the approved budget (BY Trust Fund), including available cash resources, unspent balances, contributions from previous financial periods and miscellaneous income;

21. Requests the Executive Secretary to prepare and submit a budget for the programme of work for the biennium 2011-2012 for the consideration of the Conference of the Parties at its tenth meeting, and to provide three alternatives for the budget based on:

22. Requests the Executive Secretary to report on income and budget performance, unspent balances and the status of surplus and carry-overs, as well as any adjustments made to the Convention budget for the biennium 2009-2010;

23. Authorizes the Executive Secretary, in an effort to improve the efficiency of the Secretariat and to attract highly qualified staff to the Secretariat, to enter into direct administrative and contractual arrangements with Parties, Governments and organizations, in response to offers of human resources and other support to the Secretariat, as may be necessary for the effective discharge of the functions of the Secretariat, while ensuring the efficient use of available competencies, resources and services, and taking into account United Nations rules and regulations.  Special attention should be given to possibilities of creating synergies with relevant existing work programmes or activities that are being implemented within the framework of other international organizations;

24. Welcomes the report of the United Nations Board of Auditors on the financial statements of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity for the 2006-2007 biennium, and invites the Executive Secretary to implement its main recommendations and to report to the Conference of the Parties at its tenth meeting;

25. Requests the Executive Secretary in accordance with article 14 of the Financial Rules, to have an audit undertaken on a regular basis by Office of Internal Oversight Services and, where appropriate, to ask for reports from the United Nations Board of Auditors, and to have the reports submitted to the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties, together with the management response; 

26. Agrees to share the costs for secretariat services between those that are common to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety at an 85:15 ratio for the biennium 2009-2010;

27. Authorizes the Executive Secretary to review the terms of reference of posts in the Secretariat with a view to adjusting the staffing to meet the new challenges facing the Convention and to ensure the effective functioning of the Secretariat;

28. Expresses its gratitude to the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme for increasing the administrative services to the Convention on Biological Diversity through the programme support costs and requests the Executive Secretary to negotiate with the Executive Director additional support to the Convention for the 2009-2010 biennium from this source and to report to the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties;

29. Invites the Executive Director to analyse conference and administrative support provided to the three Rio conventions from outside their respective core programme budgets and to report thereon to the Conference of the Parties at its tenth meeting;

30. Requests the Executive Secretary, notwithstanding the continued need for a programme budget, to liaise with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with a view to exploring the feasibility of applying, the results-based management concept, and particularly results-based budgeting where appropriate, to the work of the Convention, taking into account the practices of UNEP and other organizations and to report thereon to the Conference of the Parties at its tenth meeting;

31. Recalling paragraph 21 of decision VIII/31, endorses the procedure set out in the annex to the present decision for the allocation of funding from the Special Voluntary Trust Fund (BZ) for Facilitating Participation of Parties in the Convention Process;

32. Requests the Executive Secretary to discuss the procedure in the annex to the present decision within the liaison group of the Rio conventions with the view to providing joint advice to the conferences of the parties to the three conventions on aligning their respective practices;

33. Expresses its appreciation to the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme for the support provided to implement paragraph 8 of decision VIII/16 related to the joint liaison arrangements between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and encourages the Executive Secretary to continue this arrangement;

34. Invites all Parties to the Convention to note that contributions to the core programme budget (BY) are due on 1 January of the year in which these contributions have been budgeted for, and to pay them promptly, and urges Parties in a position to do so, to pay by 1 October of the year 2008 for the calendar year 2009 and by 1 October 2009 for the calendar year 2010, the contributions set out in table b below and in this regard requests Parties be notified of the amount of their contributions by 1 August of the year preceding the year in which the contributions are due;

35. Decides that a Party with an agreed arrangement in accordance with paragraph 12 above and that is fully respecting the provisions of that arrangement will not be subject to the provisions of paragraph 11 above; 

36. Welcomes the efforts of the Executive Secretary in greening activities by the Secretariat such as the carbon offsetting of travel of staff and funded participants to meetings under the Convention;

37. Requests the Executive Secretary drawing on, inter alia, the Joint Inspection Unit Recommendations contained in document A/45/130, the experience of the UNCCD and the work done by the Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention in response to decision RC 3/7 and RC 1/17 paragraph 23, to explore the advantages and disadvantages of using the host country currency or the United States dollar as the currency of the account and budget of the Convention and to report and if appropriate make proposals for decision by the Conference of the Parties at its tenth meeting;

38. Invites and encourages countries, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, in a position to do so to contribute to the International Year of Biodiversity and to undertake, in conjunction with the United Nations focal point for the International Year of Biodiversity, special initiatives in observance of the Year with a goal of enhancing the implementation of the Convention.