Decision COP XI/13

A.Improving the effectiveness of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice

The Conference of the Parties,

1.Requests the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice to continue implementing decisions VIII/10 and X/12 and to focus its work on the scientific and technical aspects of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the multi-year programme of work, as a means to improve its effectiveness, and to report on its work to each future meeting of the Conference of the Parties;

2.Recalls its decision X/13 regarding the established procedure for including new and emerging issues in the agenda of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice;

3.Notes the role of the peer-review process for Subsidiary Body documents in mobilizing scientific communities and strengthening quality of those documents;

4.Recognizes the role of regional, subregional and national centres with scientific expertise relevant to the implementation of the objectives of the Convention;

5.Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to provide additional resources for the translation, as appropriate, of scientific and technical documents, including CBD Technical Series and executive summaries of information documents prepared for meetings of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice into the official languages of the United Nations;

6.Invites Parties and relevant organizations to facilitate side-events and roundtables, including on new and emerging issues, so as to provide relevant, balanced and best available scientific and technical evidence and/or information for consideration by Subsidiary Body focal points at meetings of the Subsidiary Body;

7.Further invites Parties and relevant organizations to support the elaboration of the reference manual for guidance to Subsidiary Body focal points, Bureau members and delegates referred to in decision X/12, paragraph 4, including translation into United Nations official languages;

8.Welcomes the contribution of the Consortium of Scientific Partners in providing scientific and technical support to the Subsidiary Body;

9.Invites the Consortium of Scientific Partners and other organizations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature and its commissions to support implementation of activities mentioned in paragraphs 6 and 7 above;

B.Identifying scientific and technical needs related to the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011 2020

The Conference of the Parties,

Recalling its decisions VIII/9, IX/15, X/2 and X/11, and emphasizing that regular assessments are needed at multiple scales 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, the degradation of ecosystems and ecosystem services and the implications thereof for human well-being,

Recalling that the function of the Subsidiary Body, as set out in Article 25 of the Convention, is to provide the Conference of the Parties, and, as appropriate, its other subsidiary bodies, with timely advice relating to the implementation of the Convention, including providing scientific and technical assessments of the status of biological diversity and of the effects of the types of measures taken in accordance with the provisions of the Convention,

Reaffirming the need to strengthen the ability of the Subsidiary Body to deliver advice in this regard,

Stressing the need to support the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities in the work of the Subsidiary Body,

2.Requests the Subsidiary Body, on the basis of its analysis of the report on progress on the matters referred to in paragraph 1 (b), to identify scientific and technical needs related to the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011 2020 and to report thereon to the Conference of the Parties at its twelfth meeting.

C.Collaboration with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

The Conference of the Parties,

Recognizing that the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is an independent body with its own functions, operating principles and institutional arrangements,

Also recognizing the potential contribution of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to enhancing the effectiveness of the Convention, in achieving its objectives and implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, bearing in mind the need to avoid overlaps and duplication of efforts;

1.Welcomes the establishment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) in Panama City on 21 April 2012, and the outcomes of the plenary meeting to determine modalities and institutional arrangements for this Platform;

2.Welcomes in particular the provision for the Chair of the Subsidiary Body to participate as an observer in the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel, in order to promote communication and synergies between the Subsidiary Body and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform, and requests the Chair of the Subsidiary Body, subject to the availability of resources, to participate as an observer in the Platform Multidisciplinary Expert Panel, to reinforce linkages between the Convention and the Platform;

3.Recalling decision X/2, considers that the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets provide a useful flexible framework for the delivery of the biodiversity agenda at all levels and invites the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to consider how its work plan can contribute to their achievement;

5.Decides that the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, at its seventeenth meeting, should, as an interim activity on the relationship between the Convention and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform, provide additional explanatory information on requests referred to in paragraph 4 above and convey this information to IPBES;