CoP-11 Kicks Off Today

The XI Conference of Parties (CoP-11) on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) being hosted by India at Hyderabad kickstarts today.

October 1 to 7 would be the preliminary week, and serious deliberations on the agenda would begin on October 8, and go on till October 16. On October 17, 18 and 19, the heads of state and ministers of various countries will take final decisions.

Around 10,138 police personnel of AP Police, including 1,353 from Cyberabad Police, are being deployed to provide heavy security at the Hyderabad Convention Centre and HITEX, the venue for the international summit. They would be covering a radius of 2km around the area.

Equal security is also being given to the delegates at their respective hotels, and also on the routes of their transportation.

The state governmanet is spending around Rs. 400 to 450 crores on the city's beautification, hospitality, security and for cultural events.

ICLEI (The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) - Local Governments for Sustainability and the CBD Secretariat will partner with the Government of India, the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to organize the Cities for Life: City and Subnational Biodiversity Summit on October 15 and 16, 2012. The Summit will be held in parallel to CBD COP 11, and will convene local authorities in support of the implementation of the Convention.

However, even after the CoP-11 starts today, the beautification works in the city are likely to continue till October 8.

Today's agenda for the CoP-11 saw Charles Gbedemah, Head of Biosafety, CBD, addressing a media conference at 8:45am at Level I HICC Press room. This was followed by the Union Minister of Environment and Forests Jayanti Natarajan addressing the opening session at the Hall of HICC at 10am, and the CBD Executive Secretary, Dr. Braulio F De Souza Dias, briefing the media on CBD at Level 1 HICC press room at 1:30 pm.