Biodiversity Day May 22
The United Nations proclaimed
May 22 The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB)
🡪to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.
🡪When first created by the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly in late 1993, 29 December (the date of entry into force of the Convention of Biological Diversity), was designated The International Day for Biological Diversity.
🡪In December 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted 22 May as IDB, to commemorate the adoption of the text of the Convention on 22 May 1992 by the Nairobi Final Act of the Conference for the Adoption of the Agreed Text of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
This was partly done because it was difficult for many countries to plan and carry out suitable celebrations for the date of 29 December, given the number of holidays that coincide around that time of year.
Message from UNO SECRETARY-GENERAL:
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern over alarming deforestation and the degradation of woodlands and urged States to implement the recently agreed international treaty on sharing the benefits of the Earth's genetic resources, including forests and the natural valuables found in them.
“Despite our growing understanding and appreciation of just how much we reap from forests, they are still disappearing at an alarming rate,” said Mr. Ban in a message to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity, which falls on 22 May each year.
Last October (2010) , the 193 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization, a landmark treaty that links conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity with development.
“Forests contain a vast – and barely catalogued – store of biodiversity. The early ratification and implementation of this protocol can support forest protection and the sustainable use of biodiversity. This, in turn, can contribute to poverty alleviation and sustainable national development,” said Mr. Ban.
He drew attention to the fact that this year's observance of the International Day for Biodiversity coincides with the International Year of Forests, declared by the General Assembly to educate the global community about the value of forests and the extreme social, economic and environmental costs of losing them.
“The benefits of forests are far-reaching. Forests catch and store water, stabilize soils, harbour biodiversity and make an important contribution to regulating climate and the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. This year's International Day for Biological Diversity is devoted to highlighting the need for urgent action.”
He noted with appreciation that awareness is growing that stemming deforestation and forest degradation can contribute to reducing the threat of climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation.
The United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity, acclaimed actor and conservationist Edward Norton, for his part, warned that humanity is wreaking havoc with Earth's capacity to sustain life through destructive exploitation of natural resources and decimation of the planet's biodiversity.
“We are disrupting the natural systems of our planet in ways that will cause havoc for our way of life,” Mr. Norton told UN News Centre in an interview.
“The UN is providing a forum for countries big and small to work together on how we can put into policy issues like environmental sustainability, protection of biodiversity, protection of forests, combating desertification,” he said.
The Secretary-General pointed out that governments will next year reconvene in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and called for a recommitment to the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.
Twenty-two States have signed the Nagoya Protocol, which will enter into force 90 days after ratification by 50 Parties to the CBD. More States expected to sign the protocol at UN Headquarters in September on the sidelines of the 66th session of the General Assembly, according to the secretariat of the convention.
The protocol envisages the setting up of an international regime on access and benefit sharing of genetic resources, which will lay down the basic ground rules on how nations cooperate in obtaining genetic resources.
It outline how benefits – for example, from when a plant's genetics are turned into a commercial product, such as medicine – will be shared with countries and communities which conserved and managed that resource, in some cases for millennia.
Achim Steiner, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), cited one of the agency's reports that analyzes the contribution that $15 billion a year – or 0.03 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) – can make to greening the forest sector, including triggering greater investments in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation.
“Over the period 2011 to 2050, investment of $15 billion annually would raise the value added in the forestry industry by more than 20 per cent, relative to business as usual. A transition to a Green Economy could increase forested land – currently close to 4 billion hectares – by over three per cent in 2020, eight per cent by 2030 and over 20 per cent by 2050,” said Mr. Steiner.
In her message, the current President of UNEP''s Governing Council and Spain's Minister of Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Rosa Aguilar, said conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity is a key component for sustainable development and the green economy.
“Conservation and the sustainable use of biological diversity are, nevertheless, a challenge for society as a whole, and require the support, collaboration and the involvement of all social and economic actors.
“Each and every one of us, at an individual and collective level, can and have the duty to contribute to this common purpose, which will translate into the well-being of our society and of future generations,” said Ms. Aguilar.
History of the Convention
Introduction
The Earth's biological resources are vital to humanity's economic and social development. As a result, there is a growing recognition that biological diversity is a global asset of tremendous value to present and future generations. At the same time, the threat to species and ecosystems has never been so great as it is today. Species extinction caused by human activities continues at an alarming rate.
In response, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) convened the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on Biological Diversity in November 1988 to explore the need for an. international convention on biological diversity. Soon after, in May 1989, it established the Ad Hoc Working Group of Technical and Legal Experts to prepare an international legal instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. The experts were to take into account "the need to share costs and benefits between developed and developing countries" as well as "ways and means to support innovation by local people".
By February 1991, the Ad Hoc Working Group had become known as the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee. Its work culminated on 22 May 1992 with the Nairobi Conference for the Adoption of the Agreed Text of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Convention was opened for signature on 5 June 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Rio "Earth Summit"). It remained open for signature until 4 June 1993, by which time it had received 168 signatures. The Convention entered into force on 29 December 1993, which was 90 days after the 30th ratification. The first session of the Conference of the Parties was scheduled for 28 November – 9 December 1994 in the Bahamas.
The Convention on Biological Diversity was inspired by the world community's growing commitment to sustainable development. It represents a dramatic step forward in the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
Background and status
The Conference of the Parties (COP) addressed Article 13 for the first time at its fourth meeting, under the agenda item Measures for Implementing the Convention. Public education and awareness is addressed in Part B of decision IV/10 and subsequently in decision V/17.
COP 6 adopted Decision VI/19 on Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA), which contains information on a Global Initiative on CEPA.
The main components of this work programme are:
Programme element 1:
"Towards a global communication, education and public awareness network":
Stimulating and coordinating networks composed of new information technologies and traditional communication mechanismsProgramme element 2:
" Exchange of knowledge and expertise":
Exchanging of knowledge and expertise among professionals, enhancing development and innovation on CEPAProgramme element 3:
"Capacity building for communication, education and public awareness":
Developing capacity of the Parties to market biodiversity to other sectors, and mainstream biodiversity into the work of other sectors
. The short list is comprised of ten priority activities:
Establish implementation structure or process for CEPA activities
Assess the state of knowledge and awareness on biodiversity and determine capacity for communication
Develop key messages
Implement media relations strategy
Elaborate toolkits for development and implementation of CEPA strategies
Organize workshops for the articulation of CEPA strategies
Develop infrastructure and support for a global network
The International Day for Biological Diversity
Raise profile of meetings of the Conference of the Parties and the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA)
Strengthen formal and informal education on Biodiversity
The COP decision also invited the United Nations General Assembly to consider declaring 2010 as the International Year for Biodiversity.
COP Guidance
The COP has urged Parties to place special emphasis on Article 13 in the development of their national strategies and action plans. It has also urged Parties to:
🡪promote education on biodiversity through relevant institutions including NGOs
🡪allocate resources for the use of education and communication instruments
🡪allocate appropriate resources for the strategic use of education and communication instruments at each phase of policy formulation, planning, implementation and evaluation
🡪integrate biodiversity concerns into education strategies
🡪support relevant initiatives by major groups which foster stakeholder participation in biodiversity conservation and sustainable use
The COP has encouraged Parties to make use of the media to promote public education and awareness about the importance of and appropriate methods for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Where necessary, provisions of the Convention should be illustrated and translated into local languages
The COP has recognized the importance of public awareness and education in relation to each of the thematic work programmes and has urged Parties to strengthen education and awareness programmes in relation
🡪to agricultural biological diversity,
🡪inland water biological diversity and
🡪marine and coastal biological diversity.
COP 6 requested the Executive Secretary, in consultation with UNESCO, UNEP, the IUCN, Commission for Education and Communication (CEC), and other members of the consultative working group of experts as well as any relevant institutions, to:
monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Global Initiative, according to the conditions established in the annex to the present decision for its start-up phase, and report regularly on its implementation to the meetings of the COP
review the communication, education and public-awareness dimensions of existing and new cross-cutting issues and thematic areas, and specifically those priorities and action plans established in the Strategic Plan for the Convention
promote, in collaboration with the relevant agencies, the development and implementation of demonstration projects that can serve as models to initiate similar projects that can be adopted by Parties, and to report to COP 7
seek the submission of relevant case-studies on biodiversity communication, education and public awareness from relevant sources
develop and implement a corporate communication strategy for the Secretariat decision VII 24, paragraph 4)
COP 8 invited the General Assembly at its sixty-first ordinary session to consider adopting the draft resolution on the proclamation of 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity
COP 9
COP 9 invited Parties to double their efforts to implement the Communication, Education and Public Awareness CEPA Programme of Work, in doing so it invited Parties to provide human and financial resources to the Executive Secretary for the implementation of the CEPA work programme.
Parties were invited to create partnerships to transmit CEPA products to regions without internet access. The decision also stressed the importance for Parties to integrate CEPA into their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs);
The decision on CEPA also included reference to the need to support CEPA activities related towards Access and Benefit –sharing;
Parties were requested to continue and further improve communication, education and public awareness activities for promoting awareness and education using a variety of goals including:
🡪the goals included in the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020,
🡪the framework of the Agenda for Action; and
🡪the proposed United Nations Decade on Biodiversity, with the full and effective participation of all stakeholders, including indigenous and local communities;
Parties were also requested to provide to the Secretariat detailed accounts of their Biodiversity celebrations for inclusion in the final report to be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) during its 66th session.
Cartegna Potocol:-
on 29 January 2000, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted a supplementary agreement to the Convention known as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology. It establishes an advance informed agreement (AIA) procedure for ensuring that countries are provided with the information necessary to make informed decisions before agreeing to the import of such organisms into their territory. The Protocol contains reference to a precautionary approach and reaffirms the precaution language in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. The Protocol also establishes a Biosafety Clearing-House to facilitate the exchange of information on living modified organisms and to assist countries in the implementation of the Protocol.
For the purposes of this Protocol:
(a) "Conference of the Parties" means the Conference of the Parties to the Convention;
(b) "Contained use" means any operation, undertaken within a facility, installation or other physical structure, which involves living modified organisms that are controlled by specific measures that effectively limit their contact with, and their impact on, the external environment;
(c) "Export" means intentional transboundary movement from one Party to another Party;
(d) "Exporter" means any legal or natural person, under the jurisdiction of the Party of export, who arranges for a living modified organism to be exported;
(e) "Import" means intentional transboundary movement into one Party from another Party;
(f) "Importer" means any legal or natural person, under the jurisdiction of the Party of import, who arranges for a living modified organism to be imported;
(g) "Living modified organism" means any living organism that possesses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology;
(h) "Living organism" means any biological entity capable of transferring or replicating genetic material, including sterile organisms, viruses and viroids;
(i) "Modern biotechnology" means the application of:
a. In vitro nucleic acid techniques, inclu ding recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles, or
b. Fusion of cells beyond the taxonomic family,
that overcome natural physiological reproductive or recombination barriers and that are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection;
(j) "Regional economic integration organization" means an organization constituted by sovereign States of a given region, to which its member States have transferred competence in respect of matters governed by this Protocol and which has been duly authorized, in accordance with its internal procedures, to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to it;
(k) "Transboundary movement" means the movement of a living modified organism from one Party to another Party, save that for the purposes of Articles 17 and 24 transboundary movement extends to movement between Parties and non-Parties.
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