Half-way stage at COP 9 in Bonn
At the half-way stage of the 9th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel has expressed cautious optimism following the first week of negotiations. "We still have a very long way to go, but we have clearly succeeded in generating a motivating and constructive atmosphere for COP 9 which helps us to move forward in our difficult negotiations," said Gabriel. "With 191 Parties under pressure to reach unanimity, it is natural that results can only be achieved after a long and hard struggle". Gabriel, who as COP President is mediating between the different interests groups, considered it positive that talks regarding an international regime on access and benefit sharing (ABS) have for the first time entered a concrete phase. For many months prior to COP 9, the Parties could not even agree on which documents should form the basis for negotiations.
In coordination with the representatives of the various interest groups, at the very start of the negotiations on ABS last Wednesday the formal obstacles were successfully overcome and specific texts agreed as the basis for negotiation. Over the coming days, a "Bonn Mandate" must be formulated which will determine the course of negotiations for the next two years. At the last COP in Curitiba delegates agreed to elaborate by 2010 an ABS regime text which is ready for adoption. "For me it is essential to have a clear roadmap for the ABS negotiations," said Gabriel. He reiterated that developing countries in particular, but also industrialised countries need legal security with regard to the rules ensuring that developing countries share in the benefits arising from the use of their genetic resources.
The LifeWeb Initiative launched at COP 9 by Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel met with great approval from the delegates. With this Initiative, Germany aims to break down barriers to the creation of new protected areas. The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg laid down the goal of expanding the global network of protected areas to safeguard Earth's biological diversity – on condition that the industrialised countries made additional funding available. This has repeatedly led to mutual recrimination ever since. The LifeWeb Initiative aims at combining firm plans for new protected areas in developing countries with concrete pledges of funding from industrialised countries. The focus is especially on establishing forest protected areas, which are urgently needed in order to curb the rapid destruction of primeval forests. Gabriel announced that Germany would increase its financial commitment by at least 40 million euro per year.
Tough discussions are underway in Bonn on environmental standards for bioenergy production. Prior to COP 9 some countries were unwilling to consent to any debate at all on this topic, but early on in the meeting it was possible to set in motion negotiations on environmental guidelines for bioenergy. "This in itself can be seen as a success," said Gabriel. "Ultimately, it would only be a second-rate solution if Germany or the EU introduced their own sustainability standards for bioenergy. It would be preferable to achieve multilateral agreements as quickly as possible."
Negotiations on many other issues - marine nature conservation, forest conservation and tapping additional funding for global biodiversity conservation - are very time-consuming, and Gabriel has therefore requested the heads of the different negotiating groups to hold night-time and weekend sessions as well.
Official negotiations continue in the coming week and will come to a close on Friday evening. The High-Level Segment of COP 9 will take place from Wednesday to Friday with the participation of many minsters from all over the world.