17 October 2014: Held from 13-17 October 2014 in Pyeongchang, the Republic of Korea, during the second week of the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the first meeting of the COP serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (NP COP/MOP 1) marked the entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol on 12 October 2014, and adopted a series of decisions to facilitate its effective implementation, including on the Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) Clearing-house and on compliance.

The meeting established a compliance committee as part of the institutional mechanism to promote compliance with the Protocol and address cases of non-compliance; adopted a strategic framework for capacity building and development, and a decision on awareness raising; and adopted decisions on guidance to mobilize resources and ensure that developing countries have sufficient resources to implement the Protocol.

It is recalled that the Nagoya Protocol, adopted in 2010, is meant to significantly advance implementation of the third objective of the CBD on the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources by providing greater legal certainty and transparency for both providers and users of genetic resources. [IISD RS Coverage of NP COP/MOP 1][CBD Press Release][Meeting Decisions]