COP-8 in Brazil

Background Information

The eighth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 8) and the third Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-MOP 3) serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, as well as a Biosafety-Clearing House training workshop for developing countries, will be held from March 11-31, 2006 in Curitiba, Brazil.

At its first meeting, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol adopted the decision to hold its second and third meetings on an annual basis in order to expedite the process of addressing those issues of the Protocol which it is required to consider and take appropriate decisions at an early stage of implementation.  At its second meeting, held in Montreal from 30 May to 3 June 2005, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol was informed of, and accepted with appreciation, the offer made by the Government of Brazil to host the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol in conjunction with the eighth ordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention to be held in March 2006 in Brazil.

Call for Delegates

The Biodiversity Convention Office has asked the RCEN to select 1-2 ENGO representatives to attend two meetings of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held in Granada, Spain, in January 2006: the Ad Hoc Open-ended Inter-sessional Working Group on Article 8(j), January 23-27, 2006; and the 4th meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing, January 30 to February 3, 2006.
The deadline to apply is February 10, 2006.

To view the full Call for Delegates, please click here

Related Events

The Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and the Development (FBOMS) with more than 500 members from all across Brazil, are calling on civil society organizations and social and popular movements all across the world to participate in the Civil Society Forum during the Third Meeting of the Parties (MOP 3) of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and the Eight Conference of the Parties (COP 8) of the Convention on Biologic Diversity, which will take place between 13 and 30 March, in Curitiba, Brazil.

Besides the side events, which organizations may register for the Conference, we will organize the Civil Society Forum, a huge space for networking of many organizations, also meant to influence politically on negotiations and positions of the various countries.

FBOMS, by means of its Working Group on Socio-Biodiversity, is already planning activities for MOP 3 and COP 8. To strengthen CBD and the Cartagena Protocol, FBOMS as a national NGO and social movement's network searches to make sure that civil society participates in an effective way in official negotiation discussions and in parallel events of civil society during MOP and COP by means of: Elaboration of positions and strategies, and effective intervention of NGOs and social movements during MOP and COP; Identification of main issues of discussion during MOP and COP to improve networking, the organization of side events, and of events during the Civil Society Forum; Strengthening of the voice of social movements, to highlight the existing conflict between the CBD and WTO regimes, and to strengthen the importance of the agenda for sustainable use of natural resources, the right of access to genetic resources and the guarantee of traditional knowledge upon the agenda of free trade and neoliberalism; Creation of networking spaces for networks and organizations from all across the world; Mobilization and awareness-raising campaigns, for delegates, society and the media.

FBOMS calls for participation and huge mobilization in order to give civil society a voice in Curitiba. They invite organizations from all across the world to join this coordinated action and organize activities in Curitiba, in a big common initiative. They also ask organizations that already plan activities to send the information  (including room demands) to: coordenacao@fboms.org.br

For more information on the Call for Participation visit the FBOMS website or send an email to: coordenacao@fboms.org.br

More information on MOP 3 in Curitiba and COP 8 in Curitiba

Documents

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has prepared two background-documents:

	The absence of gender equity from the discussions about the international regime ABS
	Prior and Informed Consent: a women’s right

The IUCN would like to receive comments on both papers or a reply to the following five questions: 

1. Why should gender equity be included explicitly in the ABS international regime?
2. Which are the specific implications of gender equity in the formulation of an ABS international regime?
3. How can (or should) gender equity be included in ABS international regime?
4. Are there any PIC experiences on genetic reource access that might help to identify mechanisms to guarantee women's rights and participation?
5. Which could be the key requirements (or specific actions) required for a PIC exercise based on social and gender equity?

The deadline for comments was January 15th but please feel free to send your thoughts following this date.