10 January 2012: The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has circulated a communiqué highlighting the outcome of the 23rd meeting of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE), which took place from 21-22 December 2011, in Cairo, Egypt.

The decision on Support to the Convention on Biological Diversity and Biosafety Protocol invites Arab countries, among others, to: pursue the update of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs) in line with the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, and their resource mobilization strategies in order to implement the Strategic Plan; accelerate the ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS); start the elaboration and implementation of national laws regarding genetic resources, traditional knowledge and ABS; and promote the early ratification of the Nagoya–Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. [CBD Communiqué]