‘Amazing’ Week For Pacific At Convention on Biological Diversity Meeting
(SPREP)
It has been an amazing first week for Pacific islands delegations attending the 9th Conference of the Parties for the Convention on Biological Diversity in
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"Week one has been amazing. One of the issues raised at the Preparatory meeting we had in April to ready the Pacific for this meeting, was the need to raise the profile of what the Pacific is doing. Sometimes we are undersold, as people think small islands countries are not capable of much, but the small islands developing states, in particular the Pacific, are doing some impressive things. We are trying to promote that on the floor and in the working sessions," said SPREP's Action Strategy Adviser, Kate Brown-Vitolio.
SPREP are pleased by the growing recognition of the Pacific's work on biodiversity. A number of draft decisions, including the Island Biodiversity Programme of Work, a key CBD output for the Pacific, highlight work in the Pacific. The Pacific Invasives Learning Network, Micronesia Challenge, Phoenix Islands Protected Area in
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| Scenes from the high level ministerial meeting (top) and Pacific Islanders caucusing (bottom). PHOTOS: Courtesy SPREP |
There are a number of different roles a regional inter-governmental organization can play at the CBD COP9. Among these, SPREP is working to improve coordination of the Pacific islands delegation to enable collaboration and information flow between countries.
"We have also been working with countries that have similar interests to our own to ensure we can achieve our objectives at this meeting. SPREP is also looking at collaborative activities with other countries and organizations that are here attending the COP in order to help progress our work programme. This means we have been attending a lot of discussions outside of the main meeting," Brown-Vitolio stated.
SPREP has coordinated meetings with the
The United Nations Environment Programme hosted a side event on a European Commission project, involving SPREP, designed to assist Pacific island countries in implementing multilateral environmental agreement such as the CBD. A total of 1.3 million euros will be managed by SPREP to carry this agreement out. SPREP attended the side event.
SPREP also chaired a side event on the topic of harmonizing reporting on biodiversity-related multilateral agreements. SPREP also made their presence felt at a Global Invasives meeting to share experiences gained through the work on invasive species and bird protection in the Pacific.
Another side event attended by SPREP was one by the United Nations Development Programme Global Environment Facility Protected Areas Programme of Work fund. SPREP presented information on the experiences of one Pacific island country in carrying out a protected areas gap analysis.
According to Brown-Vitolio, "These are just several of the meetings that SPREP has coordinated and attended on behalf of the Pacific delegation during the first week at the CBD COP9. Our role is to hold these discussions with the numerous different organizations present to enable support for action in the Pacific."
Week one allowed for SPREP to carry out as much work as possible in parallel with the meeting proper, which focused upon country statements and presentations. The start of the second week saw negotiations begin in earnest. It is hoped this will lead to stronger measures by the 191 parties to the Convention to help save biodiversity in its many different forms.
