Delegates from over 160 countries will begin deliberations on ways to check the damage to Earth’s biodiversity from Monday, as the on-going United Nations conference on biological diversity moves on the next level of discussions in Hyderabad.
The deliberations will focus on new targets to conserve natural resources, increase the extent of protected land across the globe to 17 per cent and protected oceans to 10 per cent. Ways to drum up financial resources for the implementation of the ten-year strategic plan (2011-20) will also figure prominently in the discussions.
In the last seven days, the conference concluded discussions on bio-safety, taking key decisions for more effective implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
The Cartagena Protocol is an international treaty that sets rules for the safe use of living organisms modified through modern biotechnology. It was adopted as a supplementary agreement to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and entered into force in September 2003.
The conference, last week, adopted some 18 key decisions related to the Cartagena protocol, including the supplementary protocol on liability and redress of damage to biodiversity by living modified organisms (LMOs), trans-boundary movement of LMOs, monitoring and reporting, budgetary provisions and socio and economic considerations.
These will also form part of the new agenda that will be taken up from Monday, as the 11th Conference of Parties (CoP) to the CBD sits down for a 12-day discussion on setting new targets for conservation of biodiversity for the next ten years.
The deliberations will include a three-day high-level Ministerial meeting at the end, which is expected to come out with key decisions that would seek to conserve Earth’s natural resources. The status of biodiversity in the world’s oceans will also be reviewed.
Braolio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said CoP 11 would review the progress made so far and take decisions that would speed up implementation of the treaty for the next 10 years.
He said discussions on the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets would also be held. These targets seek to counter habitat loss, prevent extinction of species and increase water and land areas under conservation.