Information

COP 9 Decision IX/15

IX/15.Follow-up to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

The Conference of the Parties,
Recalling its decision VII/9,
Taking note of the multitude of ongoing and planned subnational, national and regional assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services that build on the conceptual framework, methodologies and outcomes of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,
Emphasizing the importance of promoting the application of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework, methodologies and findings at the national and subnational levels as appropriate, inter alia through additional efforts in communication and outreach, and that there is an urgent need for capacity-building in this regard,
Recognizing the need for maintaining healthy ecosystems to prevent the negative impacts of climate change,
Noting that a regular assessment is needed to provide decision makers with the necessary information base for adaptive management and to promote the necessary political will for action in addressing biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystems and ecosystem services and their implications for human well-being,
1.Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to, where appropriate, promote and support, through various mechanisms, integrated national, regional and subglobal ecosystem assessments including, where appropriate, response scenarios that build on the framework and experiences of relevant biodiversity assessments, such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment;
2.Invites Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations, stakeholders and indigenous and local communities, when designing integrated local, national or subglobal assessments, to consider, taking into account, where appropriate:
(a)The engagement of stakeholders, including local and national decision makers, and indigenous and local communities in the assessment;
(b)The principles, conceptual framework and results of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, including the services provided by ecosystems, as a contribution to the Millennium Development Goals;
(c)The conceptual framework and results of the Global Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment;
(d)The relevance of including documented case-studies contributed by indigenous and local communities, including those highlighting economic values as well as traditional non-market benefits of sustainable ecosystem management;
(e)The particular value of assessments such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment for capacity development among participants and stakeholders;
(f)The usefulness of providing, whenever possible, free and open access to all past, present and future public- research results, assessments, maps and databases on biodiversity, in accordance with national and international legislation;
(g)The relevance of supporting further elaboration of coherent standardized formats for the collection and integration of biodiversity data and information for future assessments and analyses;
3.Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to:
(a)Take note of the need for further improvement of the availability and interoperability of biodiversity data and information;
(b)Support, contribute to and promote synergy among the ongoing efforts to digitize data in a standardized format, make data and analytical tools widely available, and further develop analytical tools to use these data for policy and management purposes;
(c)Consider the framework, and experiences of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in preparing:
(i)In-depth reviews of programmes of work under the Convention in accordance with the guidelines for review of programmes of work under the Convention contained in annex III to decision VIII/15, including an analysis of the extent to which these programmes of work address ecosystem services;
(ii)A revision of the Strategic Plan beyond 2010, including the elaboration of the framework of goals, targets and indicators;
4.Invites Parties and other Governments to make full use of the framework, experiences and findings of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment when they review, revise and implement their national biodiversity strategies and action plans, relevant development plans, and development cooperation strategies, as appropriate;
5.Requests the Executive Secretary to continue to carry out the tasks specified in paragraph 3 of recommendation XII/3 of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, as necessary:
6.Acknowledges the global strategy for follow-up to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (UNEP/CBD/COP/9/INF/26) aimed at addressing knowledge gaps, promoting subglobal assessments, promoting application of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework, methodologies and findings, and outreach and invites Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations, indigenous and local communities and stakeholders and requests the Executive Secretary to contribute actively to its implementation;
7.Takes note of the outcomes of the consultative process towards an international mechanism of scientific expertise on biodiversity (IMoSEB) (UNEP/CBD/COP/9/INF/34);
8.Noting the need for improved scientific information, as related to inter alia the interests of the Convention on Biological Diversity and other biodiversity-related conventions with a view to strengthening the role of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice and the scientific advisory bodies of other biodiversity-related conventions, welcomes the agreement of the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to convene an ad hoc open-ended intergovernmental multi-stakeholder meeting to consider establishing an efficient international science-policy interface on biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being, for which a proposed concept is contained in document UNEP/CBD/COP/9/INF/37/Rev.1 and invites Parties to ensure that appropriate science and policy experts are made available to attend, and also encourages the participation of experts from various regions and disciplines;
9.Requests the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention, at its third meeting, to consider the outcome of the intergovernmental meeting and its implications for the implementation and organization of work of the Convention, including its Strategic Plan, and to make recommendations for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its tenth meeting;
10.Notes the initiation of a Biodiversity Observation Network, established under the Group on Earth Observations, and the development of an implementation plan for the network, as part of the implementation of the societal benefit area on biodiversity of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, and invites Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations, scientists and other relevant stakeholders to support this endeavour;
11.Requests the Executive Secretary to continue collaborating with the Biodiversity Observation Network with a view to promoting coherence in biodiversity observations with regard to data architecture, scales and standards, observatory network planning and strategic planning for its implementation.
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