Haider Rizvi
Curitiba, BRAZIL, Mar 25 2006 (IPS) – Hundreds of ministers, policymakers, scientists and civil society activists are attending a major international conference on biodiversity in the environmentally-friendly Brazilian city of Curitiba.
The two-week meeting, which continues until the end of March, is expected to finalise a wide range of decisions on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity.
The event has been organised by a former Algerian diplomat who also headed the Global Environment Facility for about 10 years, and has held senior positions at the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP).
Prior to his appointment as executive secretary of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) earlier this year, Ahmed Djoghlaf oversaw about 600 environmental projects in over 160 countries.
Following are excerpts from an interview IPS conducted with Djoghlaf during the first week of the conference.
Q: How do you assess the performance of the governments who have signed on to the Convention?
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A: You know, if the conservation of biodiversity has been on the agenda of the international community since Yellowstone [national park in the U.S.] became a protected area in 1869, I think we are entering a new domain. The first summit on sustainable development was held in 2002. Before, the environment and development [were seen] as two issues.
The sustainable use of biodiversity is a new area, the fair and equitable share is a new area, and this is the beauty of the Convention. You cannot sustainably use something if you don t have it. So the pillar is conservation, and after that you know how to use it sustainably. And third is a new ethic in the relation between the provider of genetic resources and the user, and this is the total objective. And of course, you know, the convention deals with the multi-billion-dollar sectors big biotechnology, big pharmaceuticals so it takes time. As a newcomer, I am looking at what the Convention has achieved, a bit on guidelines, a bit on mechanism, a bit on issues, a bit on indigenous people, a bit on ideas.
Q: How significant is the participation of indigenous people in the process of implementation of the Convention?
A: There are more than 100 indigenous people participating in the Conference. There is a process of contribution of indigenous people and local people in the CBD. It s a full-fledged article of the Convention. Not only this, at the first meeting (COP1) they had decided to have a full-time staff member as a focal point for indigenous people. Now we have two completely dedicated [staff] to service the indigenous population.
Q: Delegates from many developing countries at the conference have complained about the lack of resources. What do you say about the responsibility of the rich and industrialised countries in this regard?
A: Financing is extremely important. Without the Global Environment Facility, I don t believe we would be here today. The financing of the implementation of the Convention is crucial. Is it enough? No, and no. The Climate Change [fund], I think, has been very successful, in addition to the financial mechanisms to establish an innovative fund that we call the Marrakesh Fund.
The Convention has to think about how to mobilise innovative financial resources because the challenge is huge. The Convention on Biodiversity is all ecosystems, without any exception. Therefore, the amount of money that you need for the implementation has no comparison with the other conventions.
What is this Convention about? The Convention is about the protection of life on earth. Tell me, can you put a dollar value to the existence of human kind on earth? So, therefore, we hope really to mobilise additional resources. There is commitment by all parties regardless of the level of resources to take implementation of this Convention seriously. And the best commitment is that this Convention should be mainstreaming the development policy and the priorities of the Convention, and this is something we have to do.
Q: What about the role of civil society in the implementation of the Convention?
A: You know, all these environmental movements, including UNEP, are the result of mobilisation by civil society, and the CBD is also the result of that. The civil society and NGOs have made a tremendous contribution in pushing the governments to adopt the legally binding biodiversity agreement.
Now I am calling on the NGOs to redouble their efforts because now the challenge is bigger. We have this wealth of documents, this wealth of decisions and the time has come to implement them. Of course the government has a role, but this is the responsibility of each and every citizen of the world to protect biodiversity.
Q: Many NGOs are sceptical about the role of big business and the way it influences official decisions. For example, during this conference there have been a number of demonstrations against the biotech industry intending to test and sell genetically modified seeds to farmers in developing countries. What are your thoughts on this?
A: You cannot prevent business from doing business. They have been established to do business. They provide goods that you and I buy. Doing business is right. But doing green business is what we need. If you decided, for example, that you don t need a plastic bag any more, you don t buy it and you don t use it. Do you think that there will be a businessman who will continue producing that plastic bag?
As long as we consumers continue to ask for environmentally unfriendly products, the businessman will continue to make it for profit. So, we have to dictate the new market and new market technique. But the business I am looking at in the long term is the green business, because more and more consumers are ready to pay a heavy price to have environmentally friendly products, so if they want to continue to be in business they have to adopt the new trends of the market. But we have to engage the private sector in the implementation of this Convention. The CBD will not succeed if we don t have the private sector with us.
Q: Given the fact that negotiations over a number of issues are far from over, are you optimistic about the outcome of this conference?
A: I am optimistic about the future of this Convention because it is about our lives. We are talking about the lives of our children. I came here in January to discuss with the Brazilians the preparations. I told them that COP8 will be a historical meeting, and we have made history as far as the numbers of participants are concerned. We have 4,000 participants. Never in the history of the CDB have we had 4,000 delegates.
We have now 159 parties to the Convention. Never before in the history of the CBD have we had delegates attending the conference in such large numbers. We have 100 ministers coming. During the last COP [conference of parties], we had only 60 ministers.
Recently, President Lula of Brazil and [British] Prime Minister Tony Blair signed a joint declaration in which they committed themselves to implementing the objectives of the Convention, and I am very much hoping that the coming Group of Eight Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, will take the message from Curitiba.
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