Representatives from over 170 countries on Monday began deliberations on the way forward to protect the planet's biodiversity.
Representatives from over 170 countries on Monday began deliberations on the way forward to protect the planet's biodiversity, at the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) being held at the HICC.
The deliberations that began on Monday follow the historic outcomes of the 2010 Nagoya biodiversity summit. In Nagoya, governments adopted a new Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, and two new supplementary protocols to the CBD, setting the course for halting biodiversity loss by the end of the current decade.
Ryu Matsumoto, former Minister of the Environment of Japan, who served as COP-10 President in Nagoya, said at the opening, "While the COP-10 outcomes are remarkable achievements, there will be no change unless they are implemented. At COP-11, I trust that we can agree on further measures to overcome challenges that require additional efforts."
At the meeting, the the government of India assumed the Presidency of COP-11. During its term, which runs from 2012 until 2014, the government of India will preside over the implementation of the work of the Convention, including the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
Addressing the gathering, Union Minister for Environment And Forests and COP-11 President Jayanthi Natarajan said that the present global economic crisis should not deter us, but that it should encourage us to invest more towards the amelioration of the natural capital for ensuring uninterrupted ecosystem services, on which all life on Earth depends.
"Let us all be inspired by what Mahatma Gandhi said: 'The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems'. So let us commit ourselves to what we are capable of doing," she said.
In his opening remarks, Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, the Executive Secretary to the Convention on Biological Diversity, said, "I urge you, in Hyderabad, to mobilize the financial resources needed to enable developing countries to achieve the Aichi Targets at a national level. In so doing, we will need to be creative and involve all partners."
"We need to adopt new approaches and mechanisms, emphasizing the leveraging of resources from existing sources through mainstreaming, incorporating sustainability criteria in government procurement, reviewing and adjusting of economic instruments, and further engaging the business sector," he said, adding, "We will be judged by our acts, not our words."
The meeting is mandated to consider, among others, the mobilization of resources in support of the Global Strategy for Biodiversity and its Aichi Targets, a report on the identification of ecologically and biologically significant areas in marine ecosystems; as well as a number of other items related to the protection of biodiversity in marine ecosystems; ecosystem restoration; and the relationship between biodiversity and climate change.
The meeting will continue until October 19, with a high-level segment featuring the participation of ministers and heads of state that runs from October 16 to 19. (INN)