11 December 2012: The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has approved draft resolution A/C.2/67/L.58 on the “Implementation of the Convention of Biological Diversity and its contribution to sustainable development.” The draft resolution welcomes the outcomes of the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which took place in Hyderabad, India, from 9-18 October 2012.

It also decides to devote one of the Second Committee special events during the UNGA’s 68th session to a joint briefing by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD), the CBD Secretariat and other relevant programs, on implementation of the CBD’s objectives.

The draft stresses the need for mobilization of financial, human, and technical resources from all sources to be balanced with the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, and welcomes the Hyderabad Pledge, which aims to strengthen institutional mechanisms for capacity-building in developing countries.

It also encourages governments to share the results of research and development from the utilization of genetic materials, and to take measures towards achieving the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization (ABS). Reaffirming the importance of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the text notes efforts to mainstream these targets in the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. It encourages stakeholders to consider the Strategic Plan and Aichi Biodiversity Targets in the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda, taking into account the three dimensions of sustainable development.

Stressing the importance of private-sector engagement in CBD implementation, the draft calls on businesses to align their policies with the objectives of the Convention: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. The draft also recognizes the importance of indigenous and local communities (ILCs) in the stewardship and sustainable management of natural renewable resources. [Draft Resolutions in Second Committee]