The agenda for COP 9 contained over twenty
items and resulted in over 25 decisions. The JNCC team was involved
to some extent in most of the items but our main focus was on
biofuels, climate change, ecosystem approach, incentive measures,
protected areas high seas conservation, alien invasive species and
the global strategy for plant conservation. The outcomes and main
issues for JNCC’s main interest areas are summarised below.
Despite pressure from the UK/EU, no agreement
was reached on sustainability criteria for biofuel
production and use. However, information/experiences on sustainable
production and use and on mechanisms to minimise negative and
promote positive impacts on biodiversity will be gathered for
consideration at future meetings. A separate decision on
agricultural biofuels was reached.
The CoP continued to promote the use of the
Ecosystem Approach, particularly in relation to
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and climate change
mitigation and adaptation.
With respect to incentive
measures, the CoP placed emphasis on information sharing
to implement the work programme, including elements on the
assessment of values of biodiversity and ecosystem services,
promotion of sustainably-produced biodiversity-derived products,
and studies on market and payment schemes for ecosystem services.
It is intended to host a workshop on the removal and mitigation of
perverse incentives and the promotion of positive ones.
The CoP agreed to include climate
change as a cross-cutting theme across all its work
programmes. It recognised the need to provide biodiversity-relevant
information to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and
agreed to create an ad hoc technical expert group on
biodiversity and climate change. The CoP also noted the importance
of the conservation of wetland biodiversity, particularly
peatlands, in addressing climate change.
Progress was achieved on the revision of the
protected area work programme, despite political
tensions relating to funding. It proved impossible to defend the
line that protected area funding should be seen as a component of
wider sustainable development plans; this outcome will make it
harder to stop protected areas being seen by developing countries
as a developed country luxury, and to link protected areas to other
funding sources through the ecosystem services they provide.
The CoP adopted criteria for the
identification of marine protected areas
(including for open-ocean waters and deep-sea habitats) and
guidance for the establishment of a representative network of such
areas. It was agreed to set up an expert group to apply the
criteria in the high seas and another expert group to develop ideas
for high-seas Environmental Impact Assessments and Strategic
Environmental Assessments in support of the UN General Assembly
process.
With respect to invasive alien
species, the CoP encouraged Parties to use the risk
assessment guidance and other procedures to fill gaps in knowledge,
especially on regulatory frameworks and introduction pathways, and
stressed the need for the development and implementation of
national and regional policies and programmes. Parties were invited
to collaborate on the development of early warning systems and
rapid response mechanisms, to share information on best practice,
and to study the interaction of other drivers of biodiversity loss,
such as land use change and climate change, with the introduction,
establishment, spread and impacts of invasive aliens.
In most cases JNCC’s day to day work is quite
distantly related to the CBD debate, yet developing and maintaining
an oversight of the global context in which our work sits could
help to raise the profile, and hence influence, of the UK in
overcoming global obstacles to implementation. Towards this
end, JNCC and the Country Conservation
Agencies organised a side event to showcase UK implementation
of biodiversity work in the spirit of sharing experiences and
working with other countries to solve problems.
Find out more on CoP 9 and the Convention on Biological
Diversity