COP 1 BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY 1994

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Cristiana Pasca Palmer, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity

 

COP 1 The first ordinary meeting of the parties to the convention took place in November and December 1994, in Nassau, Bahamas. Amidst increasing global warming and a lack of force of United Nations decisions, and ineffective strategies to bring dissenting minority members to heel, in the interests of furthering the majority decisions, acid rain continued to acidify the oceans and the sea level continued to rise unabated - as the ice caps melted.

 

International politics did not thus work to protect species diversification. More, it allowed powerful corporations to call the shots, mainly oil giants as the energy providers of the fossil fuels that we causing the damage.

 

Diversification should thus have been from oil and petroleum to solar, wind and wave power, as a means to protect marine species. Such innovation should also have included safety nets for pollution from land that was finding its way into the oceans via rivers, as in monitoring of water from rivers and development of the technology to limit potentially damaging discharges.

 

These measures should have been priorities running parallel to development of administration and policies designed to protect biodiversity.

 

According to their website marine and coastal biological diversity was an early priority for the COP. At its first meeting, the COP requested SBSTTA to advise on scientific, technical and technological aspects of the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal biological diversity (decision I/7).

 

SUBSIDIARY BODY ON SCIENTIFIC TECHNICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVICE

 

Article 25 of the Convention on Biological Diversity established an open-ended intergovernmental scientific advisory body known as the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) to provide the Conference of the Parties (COP) and, as appropriate, its other subsidiary bodies, with timely advice relating to the implementation of the Convention.

As a subsidiary body of the COP, SBSTTA reports regularly to the COP on all aspects of its work.

Multidisciplinary and open to participation by all Parties, SBSTTA comprises government representatives competent in the relevant field of expertise.

Its functions include: providing assessments of the status of biological diversity; providing assessments of the types of measures taken in accordance with the provisions of the Convention; and responding to questions that the COP may put to the body.

How SBSTTA carries out its work is described in its consolidated modus operandi set forth in annex III of decision VIII/10.

SBSTTA has met 21 times to date and produced a total of 223 recommendations to the Conference of the Parties, some of which have been endorsed in full.

Such endorsement makes these recommendations de facto decisions of the Conference of the Parties.

Parts of other recommendations have also been endorsed, and many others have been taken up in modified form.

 

In 1995 Accordingly, the first meeting of SBSTTA produced recommendation I/8 on scientific, technical and technological aspects of the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal biological diversity.

The first meeting of the SBSTTA was in Paris, France, 4 - 8 September 1995, one month before COP2.

 

 

 

 

PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION

 

As of 2016, the Convention on Biological Diversification had 196 parties, which includes 195 states and the European Union. All UN member states - with the exception of the United States - have ratified the treaty.

 

CONFERENCES OF THE PARTIES

 

The convention's governing body is the Conference of the Parties (COP), consisting of all governments (and regional economic integration organizations) that have ratified the treaty. This ultimate authority reviews progress under the Convention, identifies new priorities, and sets work plans for members.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) uses expertise and support from several other bodies that are established by the Convention. The main organs are:

 

(a) review of progress in implementation;

(b) strategic actions to enhance implementation;

(c) strengthening means of implementation; and 

(d) operations of the convention and the Protocols.

 

National Reports

Parties prepare national reports on the status of implementation of the Convention. 

 

MARINE & COASTAL BIODIVERSITY

The oceans occupy more than 70% of the Earth’s surface and 95% of the biosphere. Life in the sea is roughly 1000 times older than the genus Homo.

 

There is broad recognition that the seas face unprecedented human-induced threats from industries such as fishing and transportation, the effects of waste disposal, excess nutrients from agricultural runoff, and the introduction of exotic species.

 

If we fail to understand both the vulnerability and resilience of the living sea, the relatively brief history of the human species will face a tragic destiny.

 

What's the Problem?

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the world’s oceans and coasts are highly threatened and subject to rapid environmental change. Major threats to marine and coastal ecosystems include:

* Land-based pollution and euthrophication
* Overfishing, destructive fishing, and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing
* Alterations of physical habitats
* Invasions of exotic species
* Global climate change

 

CONTACTS

 

Cristiana Pașca Palmer

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
413, Saint Jacques Street, suite 800
Montreal QC H2Y 1N9
Canada


Tel: +1 514 288 2220
Fax: +1 514 288 6588
E-Mail: secretariat@cbd.int
Web: www.cbd.int

 

BIODIVERSITY COP HISTORY

 

COP 1: 1994 Nassau, Bahamas, Nov & Dec

COP 8: 2006 Curitiba, Brazil, 8 Mar

COP 2: 1995 Jakarta, Indonesia, Nov

COP 9: 2008 Bonn, Germany, May

COP 3: 1996 Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov

COP 10: 2010 Nagoya, Japan, Oct

COP 4: 1998 Bratislava, Slovakia, May

COP 11: 2012 Hyderabad, India

EXCOP: 1999 Cartagena, Colombia, Feb

COP 12: 2014 Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, Oct

COP 5: 2000 Nairobi, Kenya, May

COP 13: 2016 Cancun, Mexico, 2 to 17 Dec

COP 6: 2002 The Hague, Netherlands, April

COP 14: 2018 Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, 17 to 29 Nov

COP 7: 2004 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Feb

COP 15: 2020 Kunming, Yunnan, China

 

 

CLIMATE CHANGE UN COP HISTORY

 

1995 COP 1, BERLIN, GERMANY
1996 COP 2, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1997 COP 3, KYOTO, JAPAN
1998 COP 4, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
1999 COP 5, BONN, GERMANY
2000:COP 6, THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS
2001 COP 7, MARRAKECH, MOROCCO
2002 COP 8, NEW DELHI, INDIA
2003 COP 9, MILAN, ITALY
2004 COP 10, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
2005 COP 11/CMP 1, MONTREAL, CANADA
2006 COP 12/CMP 2, NAIROBI, KENYA
2007 COP 13/CMP 3, BALI, INDONESIA

2008 COP 14/CMP 4, POZNAN, POLAND
2009 COP 15/CMP 5, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
2010 COP 16/CMP 6, CANCUN, MEXICO
2011 COP 17/CMP 7, DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA
2012 COP 18/CMP 8, DOHA, QATAR
2013 COP 19/CMP 9, WARSAW, POLAND
2014 COP 20/CMP 10, LIMA, PERU
2015 COP 21/CMP 11, Paris, France
2016 COP 22/CMP 12/CMA 1, Marrakech, Morocco
2017 COP 23/CMP 13/CMA 2, Bonn, Germany
2018 COP 24/CMP 14/CMA 3, Katowice, Poland
2019 COP 25/CMP 15/CMA 4, Santiago, Chile

2020 COP 26/CMP 16/CMA 5, to be announced

 

 

DESERTIFICATION COP HISTORY

 

COP 1: Rome, Italy, 29 Sept to 10 Oct 1997

COP 9: Buenos Aires, Argentina, 21 Sept to 2 Oct 2009

COP 2: Dakar, Senegal, 30 Nov to 11 Dec 1998

COP 10: Changwon, South Korea, 10 to 20 Oct 2011

COP 3: Recife, Brazil, 15 to 26 Nov 1999

COP 11: Windhoek, Namibia, 16 to 27 Sept 2013

COP 4: Bonn, Germany, 11 to 22 Dec 2000

COP 12: Ankara, Turkey, 12 to 23 Oct 2015

COP 5: Geneva, Switzerland, 1 to 12 Oct 2001

COP 13: Ordos City, China, 6 to 16 Sept 2017

COP 6: Havana, Cuba, 25 August to 5 Sept 2003

COP 14: New Delhi, India, 2 to 13 Sept 2019

COP 7: Nairobi, Kenya, 17 to 28 Oct 2005

COP 15:  2020

COP 8: Madrid, Spain, 3 to 14 Sept 2007

COP 16:  2021

 

 

 

 

CONSERVATION RISK - Plastic has accumulated in five ocean hot spots called gyres, see here in this world map derived from information published by 5 Gyres. The plastic is laden with toxins that fish and marine mammals mistake for food and eat - eventually killing them. Marine pollution is thus a major challenge if we are to ensure that species are not wiped out.

 

 

 

 

LINKS & REFERENCE

 

https://www.cbd.int/meetings/SBSTTA-01

https://worldoceanreview.com/en/wor-1/marine-ecosystem/biodiversity/

https://www.cbd.int/executive-secretary/

https://www.cbd.int/marine/

 

 

Coral reefs at risk from acid oceans

 

 

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GLOBAL WARMING IS CHANGING OUR CLIMATE AND MELTING OUR ICE CAPS