ISLAND BIODIVERSITY MAIN THEM AT CONVENTION ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 001209

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR KSCA SENV TH
SUBJECT: ISLAND BIODIVERSITY MAIN THEM AT CONVENTION ON
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY SCIENTIFIC MEETING


1. Summary: The Tenth Subsidiary Body on
Scientific, Technical and Technological advice
(SBSTTA) to the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) was held in Bangkok on
February 7-11, 2005. The main goal of the
meeting was to develop a program of work on
island biodiversity. Other major themes
included further development of indicators to
assess progress toward meeting the "2010 goal"
for significant reduction of loss of
biological diversity, and to measure progress
toward several agreed upon "targets." Parties
also agreed on terms of reference for an Ad
Hoc Technical Experts Group on climate change
and biodiversity. As previously in SBSTTA
meetings, political issues surrounding
traditional knowledge and access and benefit-
sharing dominated the thematic discussions,
and posed a significant challenge to achieving
agreement on substantive scientific and
technical biodiversity issues. Once again,
U.S. status as a non-Party complicated
delegation efforts to secure USG objectives.
Working diligently on the margins, the U.S.
delegation was able to secure all key USG
objectives. Australia remains the primary
U.S. ally, followed closely by Canada and New
Zealand; it would not have been possible to
secure U.S. objectives without their active
support. End summary.

Island Biodiversity
--------------

2. With participation from about twenty
island countries, in particular Pacific
Islands, a skeletal program of work (POW) on
Island Biodiversity was agreed. The POW
adapts CBHD's global targets to island-
specific priority actions. The actions remain
at the general level; more specific
"supporting activities" will be negotiated at
COP8. Overall, the draft POW meets USG
objectives such as encouraging the use of
integrated, ecosystem approaches, such as
White Water to Blue Water, promotes broadly
inclusive participatory processes and
strengthens science-based decision-making.
Outstanding issues revolve around Access and
Benefit Sharing (ABS) related issues and the
"rights" of indigenous and local communities.

Indicators and Targets
--------------

3. The development of a common set of
indicators was considered for assessing
progress towards the 2010 Target of
significantly reducing biodiversity loss.
Indicators for immediate use had general
support, while there was some disagreement on
five additional indicators proposed for
immediate testing. The gap between theory and
practical reporting of the indicators was
stressed, and delegates called for a detailed
description of each. Additional comments
included the need for flexibility in reporting
and especially on the use of various sources
of data suited to countries. Linkage of
reporting to national reporting and to the
Global Biodiversity Outlook was also
requested. Parties agreed on "Ecological
Footprint" as an additional indicator for
development as well as some investigation of
biodiversity indicators of climate change.


4. The CBD is working to integrate "targets"
for achieving actions into the different
programs of work. Draft Global Outcome-
Oriented Targets for the Programme of Work on
Inland Waters and on Marine and Coastal
Biological Diversity were developed based on
the Global targets adopted at COP7. Targets
such as "at least 10 percent of each of the
world's known inland waters ecological regions
effectively conserved" and a similar target
for the marine environment were supported by
Parties. The U.S., working with others,
managed to successfully rebuff attempts to
expand this target to areas beyond national
jurisdiction (e.g., high seas). The U.S. also
emphasized the idea that marine protected
areas (MPAs) are only one of a suite of
management options that can achieve marine
conservation goals.

Climate Change: Terms of Reference of an Ad
Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG)
--------------

5. Australia and New Zealand, supported by
the U.S., pushed for deferral of consideration
of an AHTEG on adaptation, noting that work on
adaptation under the UNFCCC was still at a
very early stage. Despite those concerns, the
SBSTTA established an AHTEG on Biodiversity
and Climate Change and agreed to a Terms of
Reference. The AHTEG will undertake an
assessment of the integration of biodiversity
considerations into the implementation of
climate change adaptation activities. The
work of the AHTEG will be completed in time
for consideration by SBSTTA-11.

Agricultural Biodiversity
--------------

6. GURTS (Genetic Use Restriction
Technology): Canada, supported by Australia
and New Zealand, staunchly objected that the
report of the GURTS Ad Hoc Technical Experts
Group (AFTEG) was presented as a consensus
report when, in fact, consensus on the
recommendations at the AHTEG meeting had not
been achieved. A paper developed at SBSTTA
reiterated that the SBSTTA body could not
reach consensus on the report and recommended
that the Conference of the Parties urge
Parties to conduct further research on impacts
and support capacity building. Certain NGOs
condemned the SBSTTA recommendations saying
that they "leave the door wide open" to GURTS;
however, the U.S. found this outcome positive.


7. Nanotechnology Side Event: The ETC Group
hosted a side meeting to present information
on the implications of nanotechnology for
human health and the environment as well as
the potential risks to biodiversity and
agriculture. They stressed that there is a
lack of mechanisms for assessing and
regulating potential environmental and health
risks. The ETC Group called for an
international regulatory body to evaluate all
new emerging technologies, particularly
nanotechnology.


8. Cross Cutting Initiative on Biodiversity
for Food and Nutrition: The scope for a new
initiative on biodiversity for food and
nutrition, to be developed in conjunction with
FAO, IPGRI and other relevant organizations,
was generally welcomed by Parties. U.S.,
Canadian and Australian views were that the
initiative remain within the scope of the CBD,
does not duplicate existing initiatives, and
takes a balanced view of conservation and
developments aspects. For the time being,
these criteria have been met; however, we will
need to closely monitor progress.


9. International Soil Diversity Initiative:
Parties supported the framework for an
International Soil Biodiversity Initiative
that would help raise awareness and promote
understanding of soil biodiversity and
ecosystem services. The U.S. was supportive
of suggestions that the Initiative support
conservation and sustainable use of soil
biodiversity in terrestrial systems, and not
be restricted only to agriculture.

Perverse Incentives
--------------

10. This sleeper issue became on of the most
contentious at the meeting with Argentina
adamantly opposing recommendations on this
issue, apparently echoing their concern with
incentives in other fora. Disagreement on
whether the recommendations provide a step-by-
step approach to removing or mitigating
perverse incentives or provide only a
conceptual outline pitted the EC and EU
members against Argentina and New Zealand.
Agreement was reached only with respect to
bracketing the recommendations and sending
them down the line for further work at a later
time.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA)
--------------

11. The MA draft executive summary for
biodiversity was presented for review by
SBSTTA, and comments were taken from the
floor. While there are not any contentious
issues, general sentiment was that the quality
of the MA has been highly variable. Comments
may be incorporated by the authors, and the
report will be revisited at SBSTTA-11.

Clearing House Mechanism (CHM)
--------------

12. On the role of the CHM in Promoting
Technical Cooperation, the U.S. emphasized
the use of common reporting formats for
information sharing on biodiversity so that
they are compatible, particularly for
development of global and regional networks.
We were successful in including these issues
in the Draft Recommendations of the SBSTTA
and in the Asia-Pacific CHM Meeting Report,
held just prior to SBSTTA, as key to
promoting technical cooperation and
facilitating information exchange to meet
the 2010 targets.
BOYCE