In the Media
Events Update: Report and analysis from SBSTTA 16
May 08, 2012
IISD Reporting Services
The sixteenth session of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) convened from 30 April – 5 May 2012 in Montreal, Canada, directly prior to the fourth meeting of the Ad hoc Working Group on the Review of Implementation of the Convention (WGRI). More than 400 representatives from governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, indigenous and local communities, business and academia attended the meeting.
SBSTTA adopted 15 recommendations that were forwarded to the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11), to be held from 8-19 October 2012 in Hyderabad, India.
SBSTTA 16 adopted a package of recommendations on marine and coastal biodiversity, namely on: ecologically and biologically significant areas (EBSAs); sustainable fisheries and addressing adverse impacts of human activities on the marine environment; and marine spatial planning and voluntary guidelines for the consideration of biodiversity in environmental assessments in marine areas. A second package of recommendations was adopted on biodiversity and climate change, namely on: biodiversity safeguards, indicators and mechanisms to monitor impacts of reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries, including conservation (REDD+) on biodiversity; integration of biodiversity considerations into climate-change related activities; and impacts of geo-engineering on biodiversity and gaps in regulatory mechanisms.
SBSTTA also adopted recommendations on: an in-depth review of implementation of the work programme on island biodiversity; progress in implementing decisions on the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), biofuels and biodiversity; incentive measures; capacity building for the Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI); new and emerging issues; the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO); and collaborative work in the areas of agriculture, forests and health.
Please click here to view summary highlight of the meeting.
Please click here to view Earth Negotiations Bulletin reporting on the meeting.
Keywords: biodiversity, biological diversity, CBD, REDD, SBSTTA, SBSTTA-16