The Conference of the Parties serving as the
meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety,
I.Global
Environment Facility support for the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety
1.Notes with
concern the low number of projects and the total amount of
funding requested by Parties from the Global Environment Facility
to support implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
during the fifth replenishment (GEF-5) period;
2.Welcomes the sixth replenishment of the
Global Environment Facility Trust Fund and expresses its
appreciation to the countries that contributed to the sixth
replenishment;
3.Also
welcomes the GEF-6 Biodiversity Focal Area Strategy,
4 which includes Programme 5
on Implementing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and
takes
note of the indicative programming targets for the various
Biodiversity Focal Area objectives and programmes;
4.Urges
eligible Parties to prioritize biosafety projects during the
programming of their GEF-6 national allocations under the System
for Transparent Allocation of Resources (STAR), taking into account
their obligations under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the
Strategic Plan for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety for the
period 2011-2020, and the guidance of the Conference of the Parties
to the financial mechanism;
5.Encourages Parties to explore the
possibility of incorporating biosafety activities into
multi-focal-area projects, including the proposed "integrated
approach pilots", as well as projects to be developed under the
other biodiversity focal area programmes;
6.Also
encourages Parties to cooperate at the regional and
subregional levels and to request support from the Global
Environment Facility for joint projects in order to maximize
synergies and opportunities for cost-effective sharing of
resources, information, experiences and expertise;
7.Invites
Parties and other Governments to engage in activities to raise
awareness of relevant government officials (including GEF
operational focal points) regarding the importance of biosafety and
the national obligations under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
with a view to ensuring due consideration of biosafety in the
programming of the national GEF allocations for biodiversity;
8.Urges
Parties to improve their efforts to access funding for biosafety
projects from the Global Environment Facility, inter alia,
through better coordination between Cartagena Protocol national
focal points, CBD national focal points, and GEF operational focal
points;
9.Also
urges Parties to cooperate in organizing regional workshops
with a view to raising awareness of the Cartagena Protocol as a
tool for sustainable development and the importance of fulfilling
obligations under the Protocol; identifying available local or
regional capacities that may be utilized; and designing projects
that have a better chance of being approved;
10.Further
urges Parties and invites other Governments to
integrate and prioritize biosafety within their national
biodiversity strategies and action plans and national development
plans and programmes, as appropriate;
11.Encourages the implementing agencies of
the Global Environment Facility to make sufficient provisions to
support eligible Parties in developing and implementing biosafety
projects;
12.Requests the Executive Secretary to
communicate with the Global Environment Facility operational focal
points concerning the need to consider programming part of the
national GEF allocation to support national implementation of the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which is a binding international
agreement under the Convention on Biological Diversity, taking into
account paragraph 1 of decision BS-VI/5 and the fact that the
Global Environment Facility is the financial mechanism for the
Protocol;
13.Invites the Global Environment Facilities
Agencies and other relevant organizations, to organize regional and
subregional workshops for the Cartagena Protocol and the Convention
national focal points, the Global Environment Facility operational
focal points and relevant stakeholders to strengthen their
capacities and foster sharing of experiences and lessons learned
regarding GEF funding for biosafety projects;
II.Further
guidance to the financial mechanism
14.Recommends that the Conference of the
Parties, in adopting its further guidance to the financial
mechanism with respect to support for the implementation of the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, invite the Global Environment
Facility:
(a)To fund,
in view of the experience gained during the second national
reporting process, the following activities within the Biodiversity
Focal Area Set Aside for eligible Parties, in particular those that
have reported to the Compliance Committee difficulties in complying
with the Protocol, with a view to fulfilling their national
reporting obligation under the Protocol:
(i)Preparation of the third national reports under the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, in accordance with paragraph 2 (g)
of
decision
BS-VI/5;
(ii)Preparation, by Parties that have not yet done so,
of their first national reports under the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety, in accordance with decision BS-V/14;
(b)To fund
the following activities of eligible Parties within Programme 5 on
Implementing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety under the
Biodiversity Focal Area:
(i)Implementation of national biosafety frameworks, in
accordance with paragraph 2 (h) of
decision
BS-VI/5;
(ii)Supporting capacity-building activities in the
thematic work related to the Strategic Plan, taking into account
the capacity-building needs of eligible Parties;
(iii)Supporting the ratification and implementation
of the Nagoya - Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability
and Redress, including, inter alia, capacity-building,
information sharing and awareness-raising activities.
(c)To
consider mechanisms for:
(i)Supporting
the updating and finalization of national biosafety
frameworks;
(ii)Facilitating access to GEF funding for projects
supporting the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety;
(iii)Increasing the level of utilization of GEF
funding for biosafety;
and report to the Conference of the Parties at its thirteenth
meeting.
(d)To
promptly evaluate the BCH III project, currently under development,
addressing the need for capacity-building for the use of the
Biosafety Clearing-House of all eligible Parties not yet supported
through the implementation of the previous United Nations
Environment Programme-Global Environment Facility BCH I and II
projects;
(e)To support
Parties in the collection of national data and conducting
consultations on the third national reports;
(f)To provide
funds to implement the capacity-building activities referred to in
paragraph 13 of
decision
BS-VII/12 on risk assessment and risk management;
(g)To support
capacity-building activities on socio-economic considerations as
specified in paragraphs 2 (n) and (o) of
decision
BS-VI/5 (appendix II of
decision
XI/5 of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on
Biological Diversity).
Mobilization of additional resources
15.Invites the Conference of the Parties at
its twelfth meeting to take into consideration resource
mobilization for the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety in its consideration of agenda item 14 on resource
mobilization;
16.Urges Parties that have not yet done so
to expedite the enactment of their national biosafety laws to pave
the way for securing dedicated funding allocations for biosafety in
their national budgets;
17.Also
urges Parties and invites other Governments to implement, as
appropriate, the following strategic measures within the overall
framework of the strategy for resource mobilization in support of
the Convention on Biological Diversity, with a view to mobilizing
additional financial resources for implementation of the
Protocol:
(a)Mainstream
biosafety into the national development plans, such as Economic
Development and Poverty Reduction Strategies, to make possible to
secure national budget support;
(b)Establish
strong outreach programmes targeting key policymakers,
parliamentarians, the general public and other stakeholders, to
promote their awareness of biosafety issues and raise the profile
of biosafety among other national priorities;
(c)Strengthen
the capacity of the personnel dealing with biosafety to effectively
engage and encourage policymakers, decision makers and officials
from other sectors about the importance of biosafety and to secure
their support;
(d)Identify
"biosafety champions" to promote awareness and greater
understanding of biotechnology and its regulation among the public
and parliamentarians;
(e)Link
biosafety to the issues of national concerns and priority for each
country so as to attract the attention of policymakers;
18.Requests the Executive Secretary, subject
to the availability of funds, to take into account biosafety
concerns when providing technical support and guidance and
capacity-building, including through regional and subregional
workshops, in order to assist Parties to identify their funding
needs and gaps in biosafety and to integrate biosafety in the
development of their national resource mobilization strategies for
the implementation of the objectives of the Convention on
Biological Diversity.
