Biotech Updates

CBD and GEF Partner to Advance Nagoya Outcomes at the Regional Level

February 25, 2011

The Central African national focal points for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) attended a joint regional workshop tackling biodiversity and finance in Kinshasa, Congo, on February 17-18, 2011.

"This is the first time that the Secretariat of the Convention has organized a joint meeting with the secretariat of the GEF, thus demonstrating their commitment to enhance their collaboration as ‘One UN for Biodiversity' for the implementation of the Nagoya Biodiversity Compact, as agreed at the high level retreat of senior officials of the two institutions held in Montreal early this year," said Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The workshop also became an avenue for the initial analysis of the regional implications of the major outcomes of the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, which was held in Nagoya, Japan last October 2010. The participants conveyed their strong commitment to work towards advancing the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising out of Their Utilization, as well as the early updating of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans along with the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.

Read CBD's press release at http://www.cbd.int/doc/press/2011/pr-2011-02-22-gef-en.pdf.