With entry into force of the Protocol, the ABS-CH will also become operational. The ABS-CH will act as a platform where countries can exchange information which will enhance legal certainty and transparency on procedures for access and for monitoring the use of genetic resources. The ABS-CH will also help connecting users and providers of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.
Mr. Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State for Environment, Forests & Climate Change of India, who is serving as president for the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (COP MOP1) said, “By providing legal certainty on the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, and by strengthening the opportunities for fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use, the Protocol will create incentives to conserve biodiversity, and sustainable use of its components, and further enhance the contribution of biodiversity to sustainable development and human wellbeing.”
The first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (COP MOP1), began on 13 October and lasted until 17 October.
At its first session, Parties to the Protocol discussed matters related to the ABS-CH; model contractual clauses, voluntary codes of conduct, capacity-building; awareness raising; the need for and modalities of a global multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism; cooperative procedures and institutional mechanisms to promote compliance and to address cases of non-compliance; and guidance on resource mobilization including to the financial mechanism.
Mr. Dias announced that “the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol represents a milestone not only for the Convention on Biological Diversity, but also in the history of global governance for sustainable development.” The Nagoya Protocol is strictly linked with the sustainable development agenda. “The sustainable use of biological diversity plays a key role in poverty eradication and environmental sustainability, thereby contributing to achieving the Millennium Development Goals,” Mr. Dias said. “In the same vein, the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol will certainly be of valueble importance in the achievement of the proposed Sustainable Development goals which are set to become part of the post-2015 development agenda.”
The full text of the Nagoya Protocol is available at:
www.cbd.int/abs/doc/protocol/nagoya-protocol-en.pdf
The list of signatories of the Nagoya Protocol is available at:
www.cbd.int/abs/nagoya-protocol/signatories
Source: UNEP.
