Biodiversity Summit Tenth Session of the Conference of Parties - COP10

Delegates from across the world have gathered in Nagoya, Japan for the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) summit. Governments are meeting to discuss progress on biodiversity targets, as set by parties to the convention in 2002. The Nagoya summit will also consider adopting new set of targets for 2020 that aim to tackle biodiversity loss.

COP 10:
Pursuant to decision IX/35, the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) will be held in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, from 18 to 29 October 2010.
COP 10 will include a high-level ministerial segment organized by the host country in consultation with the Secretariat and the Bureau. The high‑level segment will take place from 27 to 29 October 2010. This meeting will take place during the International Year for Biodiversity (IYB) as declared by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution 61/203. During the course of the year events will occur in every region of the world to raise public awareness of the importance of biological diversity to human well-being. Strategic Issues for Evaluating Progress and Supporting Implementation of the Convention will be considered. It is anticipated that the negotiations on an International Regime on Access and Benefit-sharing will result in the adoption of an instrument on Access and Benefit-Sharing.

COP 10 - About the Conference of the Parties:

The Conference of the Parties is the governing body of the Convention, and advances implementation of the Convention through the decisions it takes at its periodic meetings. To date the Conference of the Parties has held 9 ordinary meetings, and one extraordinary meeting (the latter, to adopt the Biosafety Protocol, was held in two parts). From 1994 to 1996, the Conference of the Parties held its ordinary meetings annually. Since then these meetings have been held somewhat less frequently and, following a change in the rules of procedure in 2000, will now be held every two years. The Ninth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Bonn, Germany (28 - 30 May 2008).

Conference of the Parties (COP):

Background and Status

The Conference of the Parties is the governing body of the Convention, and advances implementation of the Convention through the decisions it takes at its periodic meetings. To date the Conference of the Parties has held 9 ordinary meetings, and one extraordinary meeting (the latter, to adopt the Biosafety Protocol, was held in two parts). From 1994 to 1996, the Conference of the Parties held its ordinary meetings annually. Since then these meetings have been held somewhat less frequently and, following a change in the rules of procedure in 2000, will now be held every two years. To date the Conference of the Parties has taken a total of 252 procedural and substantive decisions. The Ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity was be held in Bonn, Germany (19 - 30 May 2008). The Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties will take place in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010.

Meetings of the Conference of the Parties:

COP 10 - Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity
Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, 18 - 29 October 2010.

COP 9 - Ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity
Bonn, Germany, 19 - 30 May 2008

COP 8 - Eighth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Curitiba, Brazil, 20 - 31 March 2006

COP 7 - Seventh Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 9 - 20 February 2004

COP 6 - Sixth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, The Hague, Netherlands, 7 - 19 April 2002

COP 5 - Fifth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Nairobi, Kenya, 15 - 26 May 2000

ExCOP 1 - First Extraordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Cartagena, Colombia & Montreal, Canada, 22 - 23 February 1999 & 24 - 28 January 2000

COP 4 - Fourth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Bratislava, Slovakia, 4 - 15 May 1998

COP 3 - Third Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 4 - 15 November 1996

COP 2 - Second Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Jakarta, Indonesia, 6 - 17 November 1995

COP 1 - First Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Nassau, Bahamas, 28 November - 9 December 1994

Major themes at meetings of the Conference of the Parties:

First ordinary meeting	Guidance to the financial mechanism; Medium-term programme of work;
Second ordinary meeting	Marine and coastal biological diversity; Access to genetic resources; Conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity; Biosafety;
Third ordinary meeting	Agricultural biodiversity; Financial resources and mechanism; Identification, monitoring and assessment; Intellectual property rights;
Fourth ordinary meeting	Inland water ecosystems; Review of the operations of the Convention; Article 8(j) and related issues (traditional knowledge); Benefit sharing;
Fifth ordinary meeting	Dryland, mediterranean, arid, semi-arid, grassland and savannah ecosystems; Sustainable use, including tourism; Access to genetic resources;
Sixth ordinary meeting	Forest ecosystems; Alien species; Benefit-sharing; Strategic plan 2002-2010;
Seventh ordinary meeting	Mountain ecosystems; Protected areas; Transfer of technology and technology cooperation.
Eighth ordinary meeting	Island biodiversity; Biological diversity of dry and sub-humid lands; Global Taxonomy Initiative; Access and benefit-sharing (Article 15); Article 8(j) and related provisions; Communication, education and public awareness (Article 13).
Ninth ordinary meeting	Agricultural biodiversity; Global Strategy for Plant Conservation; Invasive alien species; Forest biodiversity; measures; Ecosystem approach; Progress int he implementation of the Strategic Plan and progress towards the 2010 traget and relevant Millennium Development Goals; Financial resources and the financial mechanism.

COP also sets out a series of standing items for the provisional agenda of its meetings, namely:

• Organizational matters;
• Reports from subsidiary bodies, the financial mechanism and the Executive Secretary;
• Review of the implementation of the programme of work;
• Priority issues for review and guidance; and
• Other matters.

2010 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF BIODIVERSITY:


The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives. The world is invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth.

International Day for Biological Diversity 2010:

Biodiversity for Development and Poverty Alleviation

The International Day for Biological Diversity is observed annually on 22 May.

The theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity in 2010 is Biodiversity for Development and Poverty Alleviation. Celebration on this theme provides unique opportunity to raise public awareness on the importance of biodiversity to sustainable development and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.