14 October 2010: The Council of the EU Environment Ministers met on 14 October 2010, in Brussels, Belgium, to agree on a strategy for the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which opens on 18 October 2010, in Nagoya, Japan.

In the Conclusions, the Council identified as the key issues at COP 10: the need for a balance between an ambitious new CBD strategic plan for 2011-2020 and the availability of capacity and resources to achieve its timely implementation, including through the implementation of the strategy for resource mobilization and the development and application of innovative financial mechanisms; the sharing of scientific knowledge, the mainstreaming and sectoral integration of biodiversity (especially in financial-economic systems); the strengthening of synergies between climate change, desertification, and biodiversity policies; and the need to reach agreement on a meaningful protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization (the Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) protocol).

On the strategic plan, the Council emphasized the importance of reflecting the EU’s key priorities, in particular with regard to mainstreaming biodiversity and enhancing integration into all relevant sectors, recognizing the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and restoring ecosystems to ensure the continued provision of vital services.

On resource mobilization, the Council stressed the need to strengthen a process toward sustainable capacity and adequate financing, as well as the need for efficient and effective use of existing resources for the implementation of the three objectives of the CBD. This would be achieved by: elaborating targets and indicators for the strategy for resource mobilization, supporting the integration of biodiversity into economic systems based on an enhanced knowledge base; and building on the opportunities provided by other processes, including the UNFCCC and the finances associated with the Copenhagen Accord.

On ABS, the Council reconfirmed the commitment of the EU to the successful conclusion of negotiations on a meaningful ABS protocol at COP 10, reiterating the need for transparency, legal certainty and predictability when accessing genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources and when fairly and equitably sharing the benefits arising from their utilization. The Council stressed that the ABS protocol should not provide for retroactive application.

The Council also noted the need for: the UN General Assembly to adopt by the end of 2010 a Resolution to establish an intergovernmental policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES) and to provide clear guidance on the next steps to be taken toward a first meeting of the IPBES plenary in 2011; establishing a global inventory of ecologically or biologically significant marine areas in need of protection; integrating the valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services into systems of national accounts, the UN System of National Accounts, and relevant policy and decision-making processes; and adopting comprehensive, ecosystem-based policy approaches, where appropriate, integrating biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation, desertification, soil and land degradation, food security, poverty reduction, and sustainable social and economic development. [Council Conclusions]