Convention on Biological Diversity

A/RES/55/201No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 95bConvention on Biological Diversity, published in 2001.

What other versions does this mandate have?

18 versions · 1995–2012

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/66/202

2012A/RES/66/202Convention on Biological DiversityLatestCompare with previous version
2011A/RES/65/161Convention on Biological DiversityCompare with previous version
2010A/RES/64/203Convention on Biological DiversityCompare with previous version
2009A/RES/63/219Convention on Biological DiversityCompare with previous version
2008A/RES/62/194Convention on Biological DiversityCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

15 topics

Biological Diversity Biosafety Budget Contributions Capacity Building Cooperation Between Organizations Ecosystems Environmentally Sound Technology International Days Nature Conservation Observer Status Participants Signatures, Accessions, Ratifications Sustainable Development Technology Transfer Treaties

What does this mandate say?

25 operative paragraphs

Urges Member States that have not joined the Convention on Biological Diversity1 to become parties to it, without further delay;

Calls upon Member States that are parties to the Convention to sign and ratify the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety5 as soon as possible;

Takes note of the results of the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, held at Nairobi from 15 to 26 May 2000;

Reaffirms the importance of the decision of the Conference of the Parties on the adoption of its programme of work and the thematic approach to guide its work in the development of the Convention for the foreseeable future, including its in-depth consideration of ecosystems and other cross-cutting issues;6

Notes the decision by the Conference of the Parties to undertake a limited number of pilot scientific assessments in preparation for the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, to be involved in the proposed millennium ecosystem assessment, and its request to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice to identify opportunities for collaboration;

Stresses the importance of capacity-building activities, especially in developing countries, for the implementation of the Convention and the Cartagena Protocol, particularly the development of systems to allow parties to implement the Convention and the Protocol, and encourages developed countries to provide adequate support for those activities;

Urges developed countries to facilitate the transfer of environmentally sound biotechnology for the effective implementation of the Cartagena Protocol, in accordance with relevant articles of the Convention and the Protocol;

Decides to proclaim 22 May, the date of the adoption of the text of the Convention, as the International Day for Biological Diversity henceforth;

Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme and the Executive Secretary of the Convention to take all steps necessary to ensure the successful observance of the International Day for Biological Diversity;

Welcomes the decision of the Conference of the Parties to contribute to the ten-year review of the implementation of Agenda 212 and the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, and decides to invite the Executive Secretary and, if appropriate, the President of the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to report to it at its relevant session;

Recognizes the importance of the rapid development and implementation of the Strategic Plan for the Convention, and encourages States parties to provide to the Executive Secretary, in accordance with decision V/20 adopted by the Conference of the Parties,6 their detailed views on the matter as soon as possible;

Welcomes the collaborative work between the Convention and related conventions, in particular the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, adopted at Ramsar, Islamic Republic of Iran, on 2 February 1971;

Also welcomes the decision of the Conference of the Parties regarding its programme of work for forest biological diversity, and encourages the parties to cooperate with the United Nations Forum on Forests, in particular with regard to respecting, preserving and maintaining the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles, in accordance with article 8 (j) and related provisions of the Convention;

Takes note of the fact that the provisions of the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights4 and the Convention are interrelated, in particular with respect to intellectual property rights and relevant provisions of the Convention, and invites the World Trade Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization, within their respective mandates, to explore this relationship, taking into account the ongoing work in other relevant forums and bearing in mind decision V/26 B of the Conference of the Parties;6

Encourages Member States that are members of the World Trade Organization to support the request by the Executive Secretary for observer status at the meetings of the Council for the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the Committee on Agriculture;

Welcomes the progress made in implementing cooperation with the secretariats of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa, and encourages further cooperation;

Stresses the need to enhance complementarities between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in order to ensure that their activities are mutually supportive;

Invites all funding institutions and bilateral and multilateral donors, as well as regional funding institutions and non-governmental organizations, to cooperate with the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in the implementation of the programme of work;

Notes the work of the Global Environment Facility in assisting developing countries and countries with economies in transition in the implementation of the Convention, and urges the Facility to enhance its support for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity within the context of national sustainable development, and, within its mandate, in identifying and coordinating additional financial resources from bilateral and international organizations as well as the private sector for this purpose;

Welcomes the initiatives of the Facility in the area of capacity development to assess the capacity-building needs and priorities of developing countries, relating to the conservation of biological diversity, and to develop a strategy and implement a multi-year plan for responding to such needs and priorities, and calls upon other multilateral and bilateral organizations to cooperate with the Facility in strengthening the capacity of developing countries for the conservation and management of biodiversity;

Notes the efforts that the Facility is making towards developing programmes for assisting developing countries in capacity-building activities relating to the Cartagena Protocol;

Calls upon States parties to the Conventiony to settle urgently any arrears and to pay their contributions in full and in a timely manner so as to ensure continuity in the cash flows required to finance the ongoing work of the Conference of the Parties, the subsidiary bodies and the Convention secretariat;

Invites the Executive Secretary of the Convention to report to the General Assembly on the ongoing work regarding the Convention;

Requests the conferences of the parties to the multilateral environmental conventions to take into consideration the schedule of meetings of the General Assembly and the Commission on Sustainable Development when setting the dates of meetings of the conferences of the parties so as to ensure the adequate representation of developing countries at those meetings;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-sixth session the sub-item entitled “Convention on Biological Diversity”.

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Who created this mandate?

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What does this mandate say?

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