29/07/2010 Inter-American
Development Bank - The Inter-American Development
Bank (IDB) supports the Government of Ceará
in the preparation
of the International Conference on Climate,
Sustainability and Development in Semi-arid
Regions - ICID 2010. The IDB and the State
Government signed on July 20 a contract
for technical cooperation to improve the
conditions of semi-arid regions in Brazil
and South America.
The cooperation aims
to finance the participation of a group
of national and international scientists
and policy makers, which will help with
technical knowledge in the event.
The signing took place
at the IDB Headquarters in Brasília.
The IDB Representative in Brazil, José
Luis Lupo, and the Secretary of Science,
Technology and Higher Education of the State
of Ceará, Renan Teixeira Barrier,
attended the ceremony.
The program is structured
in two parts: Development of Preparatory
Activities for ICID 2010, which will provide
financial resources for the participation
of the scientists selected, and Contribution
of Technical Support for ICID, designed
to finance the participation of three members
of the working group of the project, including
specialists of the Unit of Sustainable Energy
and Climate Change, and the Department of
Infrastructure and Environment of the Bank.
The conference will
be attended by Alfred Grunwaldt, responsible
for issues on Climate and Sustainable Development,
and Tadashi Shimizu, responsible for the
subject of Public Policy Processes on Climate.
The specialist in natural
resources of IDB Brazil, Joseph Milewski,
will present during the ICID, the results
of the Program to Combat Desertification
in South America. This program was completed
in 2008 and expanded the institutional capacity
of participating countries, creating a solid
base of indicators to conduct a management
that is facing the deterioration of drylands
and drought in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia,
Chile, Ecuador and Peru.
The estimated cost of
support is equivalent to US$ 207.5 million,
with US$ 166 million financed by the IDB
and the other remaining US$ 41.5 million
contributed by the Department of Science,
Technology and Higher Education of Ceará,
who will serve as the executing agency and
manager of the Program.
+ More
Enhanced inter-agency
partnership for post-Nagoya biodiversity
challenges
29/07/2010 - Secretariat
of the Convention on Biological Diversity
/ United Nations Environment Programme
With Governments and their partners actively
engaged in finalizing the new biodiversity
vision for 2050 and the 2020 biodiversity
targets, which will include the international
protocol on access and benefit sharing,
senior officials of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the Secretariat of
the Convention on Biological Diversity organized
a one-day brainstorming session. Discussions
at the retreat focused on the enhanced partnership
between the two organizations for supporting
Parties in 2011-2012 to implement the expected
compact to be adopted at the tenth meeting
of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10)
to the Convention by some 10,000 participants.
At the retreat, held
in Montreal on 19 July with the participation
of 12 UNDP senior officials, headed by Ms.
Veerle Vandeweerd, Director of the UNDP
Environment and Energy Group, participants
agreed on a two year action plan for the
implementation of COP 10 decisions, to be
signed in Nagoya.
The action plan revolves
around the following areas of strategic
issues: the Convention's programme on biodiversity
for development; implementation of the Strategic
Plan of the Convention; the programme of
work on protected areas; future work on
climate change and biodiversity; the Satoyama
Initiative of Japan; outreach to cities;
and the proposed United Nations Decade on
Biodiversity 2011 2020.
Ms. Vandeweerd said:
"Biodiversity conservation and sustainable
use of natural resources are integral parts
of national and global efforts to reduce
poverty and achieve the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). We need to work through the
Convention on Biological Diversity and harness
the momentum of the International Year of
Biodiversity to refocus global attention
on biodiversity loss as an economic and
human development issue. Biodiversity loss,
climate change, and poverty are intertwined
global crises that must be tackled synergistically.
This is a critical time to align priorities
and identify needed actions to safeguard
life on this planet, including for the world's
poorest and most vulnerable populations.
UNDP is pleased to be working closely with
the Convention Secretariat at this critical
juncture to undertake strategic planning
for post-Nagoya initiatives."
Mr. Ahmed Djoghlaf,
Executive Secretary of the Convention, said:
"Since its inception, the UNDP has
been the United Nations agency for technical
assistance. It has emerged as the lead United
Nations agency for technical assistance
for sustainable development, which cannot
be achieved without the full implementation
of the three objectives of the Convention
on Biological Diversity. Not only has the
UNDP contribution to the promotion of the
International Year of Biodiversity been
unique and remarkable, the post-Nagoya contribution
of the UNDP also promises to be unique and
remarkable."
In May 2008, at the
margins of the ninth meeting of the Conference
of the Parties to the Convention, in Bonn,
Germany, UNDP and the Secretariat of the
Convention signed their first memorandum
of understanding, upon which existing collaboration
has grown. Agreeing to cooperate on issues
related to biodiversity for development
and outreach, a senior UNDP staff member
was seconded to the Convention Secretariat
in Montreal for one year to act as a liaison
officer. The UNDP celebrated the launch
of International Year of Biodiversity (IYB)
in New York in February. There are now over
69 UNDP offices that have been engaged in
celebrating the IYB at national and local
levels.
