Statement by Ireland on behalf of the European Union and the Acceding
Countries
Seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD
Kuala Lumpur, 9-20 and 27 February 2004
Agenda item 1: Opening of the meeting
Mr President, distinguished delegates
1. At this seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity, Ireland has the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and the Acceding
Countries, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,
Slovakia and Slovenia. [The Candidate Countries Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey declare that
they align themselves with this Statement.].
2. The European Union would like to warmly thank the Government and people of Malaysia for
their hospitality and courtesy in hosting this meeting. We also, Sir, wish to convey our best
wishes to you, as President of the COP, in the significant challenges which lie ahead of you and
to say that we are ready to give you our full support and assistance in these tasks.
3. The European Union wishes to sincerely thank the Executive Secretary and the Secretariat of
the CBD, and also of course the Bureau, for their very considerable work in preparing for this
meeting, including the many high quality documents we have before us. We also very much
appreciate the essential and generally excellent preparatory work undertaken by SBSTTA, the
Intersessional Meeting, the Working Groups on Article 8(j) and ABS and other meetings. We
thank all of those involved in these processes.
4. We also wish to particularly mention the important contribution made by the Third PanEuropean Intergovernmental Conference on “Biodiversity in Europe” – which was held in the
framework of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy - and which was
kindly hosted by Spain in Madrid on 19-21 January last.
Mr President,
5. This a particularly significant meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity
as it is the first since the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The WSSD established a
new momentum by giving global political support at the highest level to biodiversity and
recognised it is essential for sustainable development. It set an ambitious target: to significantly
reduce the current rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. We must build on this political support and
commitment to achieve this target and we have a clear responsibility to do so at this COP.
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6. The loss of biodiversity threatens the capacity of ecosystems to provide goods and services in a
sustainable way and therefore poses a risk to the very subsistence of human beings on Earth. We
also emphasise its intrinsic value. Biodiversity is therefore essential for poverty eradication,
sustainable livelihoods, subsistence products, income generation, ecological services, and
scientific, recreational, cultural, spiritual and other values. Biodiversity is part of the daily lives
of every one of us and, indeed, we are part of biodiversity.
7. Yet, biodiversity is being irreversibly and rapidly lost, and we all suffer real adverse
consequences which will also transfer to future generations. Significantly reducing the current
rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 must become a reality and indeed we are committed to halting
biodiversity loss within the EU by this date. This COP has a clear opportunity and responsibility
to meaningfully address the CBD 2010 target, and to meet the Millennium Development Goals
and WSSD commitments, provided we take strong and wise decisions here in Kuala Lumpur.
Mr President,
8. This Conference is going to address a number of key issues and we will highlight just a few in
these opening remarks.
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
9. With regard to the Millennium Development Goals, we must make the two-way, and mutually
beneficial, linkage between the CBD and the MDGs. The EU underlines the need to focus the
activities of the CBD in the coming years on achieving the 2010 target and on contributing to
the Millennium Development Goals. While the CBD must support the MDGS, it will also be
necessary to ensure that the achievement of the MDGs is not detrimental to biodiversity. We
believe we must find new, and enhanced, ways to more effectively communicate the importance
of biodiversity for the achievement of the Millenium Development Goals, and to identify and
communicate the relationship between biodiversity and human development targets at all levels.
Protected Areas (PAs)
10. Protected areas and ecological networks are an essential tool for biodiversity, and indeed as a
contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the WSSD
outcomes. While not the only issue by any means, without real and effectively managed
protected areas, we are extremely unlikely to reach the biodiversity commitments we have
entered in to. We should aim at establishing and strengthening, by 2010 on land and 2012 at sea,
comprehensive, ecologically representative and effectively managed national and regional
systems of protected areas and ecological networks integrated into a global network, To this
end, this COP must adopt an ambitious and targeted work programme, respecting the bottom-up
approach, to be implemented immediately. [We also suggest the establishment of an open-ended
Working Group to monitor and evaluate the programme of work on protected areas.]
Integration of Biodiversity
11. We must continue to pursue, with vigour, ways and means to address biodiversity outside, as
well as within, protected areas. This Convention has done much valuable work on this and,
indeed, it has pioneered new approaches – in particular through its emphasis on mainstreaming
and integrating biodiversity into other sectoral and cross-sectoral policies.
12. It is generally accepted that biodiversity should be integrated into such sectors as agriculture,
forestry, fisheries, etc, which are well recognised as significantly affecting biodiversity. It is
equally critical to integrate biodiversity into other policies, including trade, development cooperation and, very importantly, national poverty reduction and sustainable development
strategies. This is true at the national, regional and international level.
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13. In order to ensure synergies and mutual supportiveness, there is a need further to improve
co-operation, both at national and international level, between the CBD and the other Rio
Conventions, all other relevant international agreements, in particular multilateral
environmental agreements, multilateral agreements on trade and development co-operation, and
specific international fora relevant to the CBD work. In this regard we must work together to
address the adverse impacts of climate change on biodiversity.
14. Moreover, since the WSSD confirmed the CBD as the key instrument for biodiversity, the
Convention on Biological Diversity needs to be closely involved in the follow up to the WSSD.
The EU would, therefore, propose that COP7 take the appropriate decisions regarding the
CBD’s involvement in the follow up to the WSSD process, in particular through co-operation
with the CSD.
Strategic Plan (SP) and Multi-Year Programme of Work (MYPOW)
15. The adoption by the last COP of the Strategic Plan - with its target of significantly reducing the
current rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010 and the objective of effectively halting the loss of
biodiversity - was a critical development.
16. Consideration of how to carry the Strategic Plan forward, coupled with the adoption of a MultiYear Programme of Work which is focussed on implementation and assessment of progress
towards the CBD 2010 target, could contribute in a significant way to the practical action which
is needed on the ground.
17. We believe that this COP should adopt a strategic and coherent Multi-Year Programme of
Work, as proposed by the Intersessional Meeting of March 2003, which will include review of
progress made towards the CBD 2010 target at each COP including, where possible, during the
Ministerial Segments.
18. Through the Strategic Plan, Parties committed themselves to a more effective and coherent
implementation of the three objectives of the Convention. In this regard, we wish to mention
four proposals. Firstly, we believe there is a need to develop a framework and core set of clear
and manageable indicators at the national, regional and global levels on the status of, trends in,
and pressures on, biodiversity, as well as on policy responses. Secondly, the CBD should put in
place a mechanism to evaluate the changes in biodiversity, using the core set of trial indicators,
and to identify significant deficiencies in information and implementation measures. Thirdly,
we also believe there is a need for a mechanism – we suggest the use of peer review - which
would assist countries through voluntary national performance reviews, to be undertaken at the
request of Parties, in order to assist them to identify limitations, constraints and opportunities in
national implementation. Fourthly, in order to carry forward the first goal of the Strategic Plan,
we support the establishment of a Global Partnership on Biodiversity.
Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS)
19. With regard to ABS, the adoption of the Bonn Guidelines by the last COP was an important
development in this area. We also recognise that the International Treaty on Plant Genetic
Resources for Food and Agriculture is an important means of achieving the CBD objectives. We
agree that we must continue our work on the implementation of the third objective of the CBD.
In this regard, we strongly encourage the application of the Bonn Guidelines.
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20. With regard to the further development of the international regime on ABS, the European Union
and Accession States would wish to underline their commitment to negotiating a transparent,
effective and comprehensive international regime, building on an analysis of the gaps in the
present systems and an evaluation of experience gained in the implementation of the Bonn
Guidelines.
International Co-operation and Support
21. The EU is fully aware of, and wishes to emphasise the importance of, further developing
international co-operation and support to developing countries and countries with economies in
transition in capacity building activities on the three objectives of the Convention, as well as on
the immediate implementation of the Cartagena Protocol. We wish to reiterate the EU’s clear
commitment to help to provide adequate financial, human and technical resources for the
implementation of the Convention.
Public Support and Communication with our Citizens
22. The EU believes that it is clear that “business as usual” has not, and will not, deliver the CBD
2010 target. We need new impetus across all areas critical to achieving the target. In particular,
we urgently need to mobilise public opinion in support of the work of the CBD. We need to
engage the attention of key decision-makers and society at large and create interest in,
understanding of, support for and involvement in biodiversity and the CBD 2010 target. Until
the person in the street and at work actually understands what biodiversity is - that it is
intrinsically valuable, is a critical aspect of our daily lives, and it is being irretrievably lost - we
will not overcome the many and complex obstacles to implementation of the CBD and
achievement of the CBD 2010 target. For this reason, we need to mobilise the means to explain
the importance of biodiversity to all our citizens and, equally importantly, to provide them with
skills and knowledge to play an active role in meeting the biodiversity challenges. The
Convention on Biological Diversity is one of the most important international Conventions that
exists in the world today. We need to get the message across that its challenge and objective is
to halt the decline in plants and animal species and their habitats as a crucial means of
sustaining livelihoods, eradicating poverty, and protecting human health. The CBD global
initiative on Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) will be particularly
important in this context.
Political Support
23. Mr President, at the commencement of these opening remarks, we underscored the importance
of political consideration and support for biodiversity, including biosafety. We should ensure
that we continue to engage this political support - including at the Ministerial Segment of each
COP – in particular, through the consideration of progress towards the achievement of the CBD
2010 target. Indeed, we very much welcome the opportunity which the Government of Malaysia
is presenting to us at the High Level Segment of this COP 7, including the opportunity to
address Biosafety issues which will be addressed at MOP 1. We also welcome the overarching
issues which our hosts have selected for the Agenda of the High Level Segment - Scientific
Assessments, Technology Transfer and Access and Benefit Sharing – and we were pleased to
learn from our hosts that these Agenda items will also enable us to address such issues of
particular interest to us as Protected Areas, the CBD 2010 target and the follow-up to the WSSD
in the proposed Kuala Lumpur Declaration which, it is intended, will be adopted by all
Ministers here. COP 7 must also send a clear message on the need to achieve the 2010 target to
relevant bodies outside the CBD framework, particularly the CSD and UNEP, and on their key
role in this process.
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24. Mr. President, turning specifically to the first meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol
on biosafety, we look forward to positive and fruitful deliberations, endorsing and building on
the milestone achieved in September 2003 when the Protocol came into force and note that
since then more than 30 additional countries have ratified the Protocol. We must proceed with
the same spirit of cooperation and determination that brought us this far, so that, with the benefit
of your guidance Mr. Chairman, we take a further significant step towards the ultimate goal of
giving full operational effect to the Protocol. In this regard, we will continue to bear in mind the
needs and special situation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
We congratulate those States that have already ratified the Protocol, as well as those who are
either committed to, or in the process of ratification and we urge states which have not done so
yet to ratify the Protocol as soon as possible. We also hope that governments and the private
sector of non-Parties will respect the principles and procedures under this Protocol to facilitate
its operation as the global framework for transboundary movements of living modified
organisms. The mutual supportiveness of trade and environment in the achievement of
sustainable development must be underpinned by effective and balanced requirements for the
evaluation of activities that may have adverse environmental effects, taking account of the
precautionary principle.
We hope, as implementation progresses, that ratification by more States will give added
emphasis to the importance of the Protocol as a global instrument for sustainable development,
and to the fundamental objectives of contributing to ensuring an adequate level of protection in
the field of the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms resulting from
modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of
biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health, and specifically focusing on
transboundary movements.
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In conclusion, the EU reaffirms its commitment to the effective implementation of the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, particularly in the context of its contribution to the fulfilment
of the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. We will work constructively with
all participants in the pursuit of a successful outcome to this meeting – that is to say, maximum
workability for all importing and exporting countries. Our priorities for this meeting include the
adoption of the necessary decisions for the effective implementation of the Protocol on:
an effective compliance mechanism,
adequate and practical documentary requirements for LMO shipments,
modalities for the full operation of the Biosafety Clearing House,
guidance for parties in their interactions with non-parties, and
launching a process for the elaboration of rules and procedures on liability and redress.
Concluding Remarks
25. Mr. President, distinguished delegates, the destruction of biological diversity continues at an
unprecedented rate. This loss threatens the capacity of ecosystems to provide goods and services
in a sustainable way and poses a risk to the very subsistence of human beings on Earth. Despite
many successful achievements, implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity still
faces many and complex obstacles. We are committed to promoting successful outcomes from
this, the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity and from the first Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety. To
this end, I am happy to assure you that the European Union and the Acceding States are ready,
in a spirit of helpfulness and genuine engagement, to frame and take the necessary decisions
here in Kuala Lumpur.
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