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Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
What is the Convention?
Signed by 150 government leaders at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the Convention on Biological Diversity is dedicated to promoting sustainable development. Conceived as a practical tool for translating the principles of Agenda 21 into reality, the Convention recognizes that biological diversity is about more than plants, animals and micro organisms and their ecosystems – it is about people and our need for food security, medicines, fresh air and water, shelter, and a clean and healthy environment in which to live. To go to the CBD Website click on this link
Civil Society Engagement Process for the Convention on Biological Diversity
Background
Since the days of the Stockholm and Rio, global-scale political, economical and technological events have presented environmental regimes with challenges that they have been unable to handle effectively. Global attention and interest is presently focused on rethinking and restructuring the environmental governance regime in all the organs and the bodies of the UN within the context of the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
A key component in this process that is also engaging the attention of discussants is the role of NGO's and Civil Society. An increasingly prominent and powerful role is being played by NGO's and Civil Society and the exisiting international system is increasingly recognizing the role of civil society.
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Agenda 21 recoginzed the need for forms of participation by individual, groups and organizations, declaring that the commitment and genuine involvement of all social groups is critical to the effective implementation of the objective of sustainable development. At the same time within the last 10 years the role of NGO's within the UN system has expanded dramatically in ways that have not been officially recorgnized.
Through the process leading up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) ennvironmental organizations began focusing on internal capacity building to understand how international policy making takes place and to use this to influence UN policy and intergovernmental negotiations.
In this response, member states officially recognized the contribution of Civil Society to Agenda 21. This comprehensive blueprint for sustainable development identified eight "major groups" or stakeholders of civil society and elaborated ways that they should be involved in the further development and implementation of sustainable development initiatives. |
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ELCI and the Convention on Biological Diversity
At the sixth conference of Parties (COP6) to the Biodiversity Convention, in the Hague in April 2002, NGO's coordinated by ELCI met regularly and produced daily ECO's. (ECO is a daily Civil Society Newsletter at the COP)
It was the request of the community together with indigenous people's organization that a more formal, better supported means of coordinating NGO input be developed for the next intersessional and COP in 2004, including documentation of best practices in civil society engagement and through a civil society forum preceding the formal meetings.
The activities described were developed through postings of proosed activities and discussions on them, through listserves moderated by ELCI. |
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Annual Report