What has been done on socio-economic considerations

At its tenth meeting, in decision CP-10/12, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties, while taking note of the outcomes of the work by the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Socio economic Consideration, recognized the limited time available for Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and other stakeholders to make use of the voluntary Guidance on the Assessment of Socio-Economic Considerations in the Context of Article 26 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety as contained in the annex of CBD/CP/MOP/9/10. COP-MOP invited Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and other stakeholders to cooperate and share relevant experiences on taking socio-economic considerations into account in decision-taking on living modified organisms in accordance with Article 26 of the Protocol and to use the voluntary Guidance and submit experiences in the use of the Guidance to the Executive Secretary, as well as examples of methodologies and applications of socio-economic considerations in the light of the elements of the voluntary Guidance. The Executive Secretary was also requested to contact those Parties that indicated, in their fourth national report, (a) having specific approaches or requirements that facilitate how socio economic considerations should be taken into account in decision-making on living modified organisms, or (b) having taken into account socio-economic considerations arising from the impact of living modified organisms on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and invite them to share information on their experiences, as relevant to Article 26. The Executive Secretary was requested to compile the information received and submit it for consideration by the COP-MOP, at its eleventh meeting.

The Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Socio-economic Considerations (AHTEG) was convened in Vienna, Austria from 10 to 13 December 2019. Pursuant to decision CP-9/14, it reviewed the submissions received in response to Notification 2019-031 and the outcomes of the online discussions and used that information to supplement the voluntary Guidance, by indicating for which stage in the assessment process, as outlined in the voluntary Guidance, the information might be relevant. The report of the AHTEG is available here.

The AHTEG was also of the view that additional time was needed for Parties and other relevant stakeholders to gain experience using the Guidance, which would facilitate supplementing the Guidance further.

At its ninth meeting, in decision CP-9/14, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties took note of the “Guidance on the Assessment of Socio-Economic Considerations in the Context of Article 26 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety", as contained in the annex of CBD/CP/MOP/9/10 and invited for the submission of preliminary experience using the Guidance as well as examples of methodologies and applications of socio-economic considerations in light of the elements of the Guidance. It requested the Executive Secretary to compile the information and organize moderated online discussions to comment on and add views to review the compilation. The COP-MOP extended the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Socio-economic Considerations to review the outcomes of the online forum and requested the Executive Secretary to convene a face-to-face meeting of the Group. The COP-MOP decided to consider the outcomes of the process at its tenth meeting

The Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Socio-economic Considerations (AHTEG) was convened in Ljubljana, Republic of Slovenia from 9 to 13 October 2017. It worked on the guidelines envisaged under the outcomes for operational objectives 1.7 of the Strategic Plan for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Following extensive discussions, the AHTEG agreed on the draft “Guidance on the assessment of socio-economic considerations in the context of Article 26 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety” as contained in the annex to its report.

Among other things, the AHTEG recommended that the COP-MOP consider the report of the meeting of the AHTEG, including the draft Guidance, at its ninth meeting. The Group also noted that further work was needed to supplement the draft Guidance, in particular on the application of methodologies and examples of application of socio-economic considerations.

At its eighth meeting, in decision CP-VIII/13, the COP-MOP took note of the revised Framework for Conceptual Clarity and decided to extend the mandate of the AHTEG, replacing any experts, as needed, including indigenous peoples and local communities as observers, to allow it to meet face-to-face, subject to the availability of funds, to work on the guidelines envisaged under the outcomes for operational objective 1.7 of the Strategic Plan for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. In the same decision the COP-MOP urged Parties to provide the necessary funds for a face-to-face meeting of the AHTEG, ensuring the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities, supported by such online discussions as may be necessary to achieve its mandate. The COP-MOP requested the AHTEG to submit a report for consideration by the COP-MOP at its ninth meeting.

At its seventh meeting, the COP-MOP took note of the report of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Socio-economic Considerations (AHTEG). In decision BS-VII/13, Parties extended the AHTEG and determined that it should work, in a stepwise approach, on: (i) the further development of conceptual clarity on socio-economic considerations arising from the impact of living modified organisms on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and (ii) developing an outline for guidance with a view to making progress towards achieving operational objective 1.7 of the Strategic Plan and its outcomes.

In further developing conceptual clarity on socio-economic considerations, the AHTEG was requested to take into account and improve upon the “Elements of a Framework for Conceptual Clarity on Socio-Economic Considerations” contained in the annex to the report of the first meeting of the AHTEG on Socio-economic Considerations.

To assist in the work of the expert group, Parties were requested, and Governments, relevant organizations and indigenous and local communities were invited, to submit views and comments on the “Elements of a Framework for Conceptual Clarity on Socio-Economic Considerations” contained in the annex to the report of the first meeting of the AHTEG. The Secretariat was requested to compile these views and comments, as well as information on i) policies, laws, regulations and guidelines providing for definitions of socio-economic considerations; and (ii) practical applications of socio-economic considerations in decision-making on living modified organisms, including cases where positive and negative socio-economic impacts have been considered.

The Secretariat was also requested to convene online discussion groups to facilitate the exchange of views, information and experiences on socio-economic considerations in the context of paragraph 1 of Article 26 of the Protocol, including concerning: international obligations that may be relevant to socio-economic considerations; socio-economic considerations and the value of biological diversity to indigenous and local communities; environment-related aspects of socio-economic considerations, as well as the relationship, if any, with risk assessment and human health-related issues, and to synthesize the exchange of views, information and experiences resulting from these discussions. The online discussions were held from 30 March to 7 May 2015. A full transcript is available here.

Finally, the Secretariat was also requested to commission, subject to the availability of funds, a study on international agreements that may have relevance to socio-economic considerations as provided for in Article 26 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and to make the report available on the Biosafety Clearing-House.

The documents prepared in response to the requests are available here.

Due to the lack of sufficient funding to organize a face-to-face meeting of the AHTEG an on-line discussion was held from 9 May to 17 June 2016 to enable the AHTEG to undertake certain aspects of its mandate, focusing in particular on the further development of conceptual clarity. Through the online discussion, the AHTEG agreed on a revised Framework for Conceptual Clarity.

The outcomes and conclusions of the online discussion, including the revised Framework for Conceptual Clarity, were submitted to the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol in the annex to document UNEP/CBD/BS/COP-MOP/MOP/8/13.

At its sixth meeting, the COP-MOP considered further steps regarding socio-economic considerations. In decision BS-VI/13, the COP-MOP decided to establish an ad hoc technical expert group to develop conceptual clarity in the context of paragraph 1 of Article 26. To assist in the work of the expert group, the Secretariat was requested to compile, take stock of and review information on socio-economic considerations arising from the impact of LMOs on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, especially with regard to the value of biodiversity to indigenous and local communities, and to convene online discussion groups and regional online real-time conferences to facilitate and synthesize the exchange of views, information and experiences on socio-economic considerations.

The Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Socio-economic Considerations (AHTEG) was convened in Seoul, Republic of Korea from 17 to 21 February 2014. It submitted its report to COP-MOP 7.

At its fifth meeting, the COP-MOP considered the recommendations from the coordination meeting and the survey report by UNEP on the application of and experience in the use of socio-economic considerations in decision-making on living modified organisms. In section IV of decision BS-V/3 on capacity-building (Cooperation on identification of capacity-building needs for research and information exchange on socio-economic considerations), the COP-MOP requested the Secretariat to: (i) convene regional online conferences to facilitate exchange of views, information and experiences concerning socio-economic considerations; (ii) organise a regionally-balanced workshop to analyse the capacity-building activities, needs and priorities, identify options for cooperation in addressing the needs and analyse other relevant information on this issue; and (iii) prepare a report for COP-MOP 6. An Online Portal on Socio-Economic Considerations was created to facilitate the implementation of these requests.

At its fourth meeting, the COP-MOP considered views and case studies concerning socio-economic impacts of LMOs on the basis of submissions from Parties, other Governments and relevant international organizations. COP-MOP 4, in its decision BS-IV/16, invited the next coordination meeting on capacity-building activities to further consider possibilities for cooperation in identifying needs for capacity-building for research and information exchange on socio-economic impacts of LMOs. The recommendations from the coordination meeting are to be submitted for the consideration of the Parties at their fifth meeting. In addition, Parties agreed to review socio-economic issues at their sixth meeting based on information that may be provided through the second national reports.

In 2009, the Division of GEF Coordination of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) collaborated with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity to conduct an online survey on the application of and experience in the use of socio-economic considerations in decision-making on living modified organisms.

In accordance with the medium term programme of work adopted by the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (COP-MOP) (decision BS-I/12), paragraph 2 of Article 26 was considered by the COP-MOP at its second meeting. COP-MOP 2 requested, among other things, Parties and other Governments to provide their views and case studies concerning socio-economic impacts of LMOs (decision BS-II/12) for consideration at the fourth meeting of the Parties. It also invited Parties and other Governments to share information and experiences on socio-economic impacts of LMOs through the Biosafety Clearing-House.

Further information is available through the Online Portal on Socio-Economic Considerations.