Notification 2019-013

Dear Madam/Sir, The purpose of this notification is to bring to your attention the decisions adopted at the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol (COP-MOP 3) that request action by Parties, other Governments, international organizations, indigenous peoples and local communities and relevant stakeholders, as well as relevant decisions of the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 14) related to access and benefit-sharing and the Nagoya Protocol. A list of these requests and decisions is included in the annex for your consideration. The notification also provides information on planned meetings for the biennium 2019-2020. Inter-sessional meetings for the biennium 2019-2020 The following intersessional meetings related to the Nagoya Protocol or access and benefit-sharing will take place in line with the decisions by COP-MOP 3 and COP 14: • A meeting of the Informal Advisory Committee to the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) Clearing-House (tentatively last quarter of 2019) as well as online discussions as needed; • A meeting of the Informal Advisory Committee on Capacity-building for the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol (tentatively last quarter of 2019) as well as online consultations as needed; • A meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Digital Sequence Information on Genetic Resources (tentatively first quarter of 2020); • A meeting of the Compliance Committee (tentatively second quarter of 2020); • The Subsidiary Body on Implementation at its third meeting (tentatively second quarter of 2020) will consider the following issues related to the Nagoya Protocol: - Global multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism (Article 10) of the Nagoya Protocol - Specialized international access and benefit sharing instruments in the context of Article 4, paragraph 4, of the Nagoya Protocol - Measures to assist in capacity-building and capacity development (Article 22) of the Nagoya Protocol - Review of experience in holding concurrently meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol, and the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol • The open-ended inter-sessional working group established under COP decision 14/34 will meet at least twice. A meeting in 2020 (tentatively July 2020) will consider the outcomes of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Digital Sequence Information on Genetic Resources and make recommendations on how to address digital sequence information on genetic resources in the context of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. The Secretariat will follow-up in due course to invite submissions, as appropriate, in preparation for intersessional meetings. Seventh replenishment of the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund (GEF-7) As you may be aware, under GEF-7, the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol continues to be one of the programming elements of the Biodiversity Focal Area, with $ 37 million allocated for this purpose. I would like to take this opportunity and emphasize decision NP-3/8 which encourages eligible Parties to prioritize access and benefit-sharing projects during the programming of their seventh-replenishment national allocations under the System for Transparent Allocation of Resources (STAR). Furthermore, the decision also encourages Parties to incorporate access and benefit-sharing activities in projects developed under other programmes of the Global Environment Facility, as appropriate. In this regard, you may wish to contact the GEF national focal point of your country. (Contact information for GEF operational focal points may be found through the website of the GEF: https://www.thegef.org/focal_points_list.) I thank you for your continued cooperation and support for the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: ABS National Focal Points and CBD National Focal Points (where ABS focal points have not yet been designated), international organizations, indigenous peoples and local communities and relevant stakeholders