30 May 2000

Text: Meeting on Biological Diversity Ends

Sixty-four governments signed the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in Nairobi, Kenya, at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, according to a United Nations press release on the meeting that ended May 26.

The Biosafety Protocol will seek to protect the planet's biodiversity through the regulation of international transport of living modified organisms produced through the techniques of biotechnology.

The conference also "reached agreements to encourage scientific cooperation and protect traditional knowledge," according to the U.N. release. Further, the conference resolved to encourage more sustainable activities in the global tourism industry.

Following is the text of the press release:

(begin text)

UNNEWS

U.N. conference in Nairobi sets global agenda to protect biodiversity

26 May -- A meeting of some 1,500 diplomats and experts from 156 countries concluded today in Nairobi with the adoption of a series of decisions that will guide international action on biological diversity over the next two years.

A highlight of the two-week Fifth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity was the signing of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety by 64 Governments plus the European Community, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), at whose headquarters the meeting was held.

The Protocol seeks to minimize the risks that biotechnology poses to the planet's diverse natural resources by regulating trade in living modified organisms.

The Conference reached agreements to encourage scientific cooperation and protect traditional knowledge, UNEP said in a statement from Nairobi today. It also focused on promoting sustainable behavior in the fast-growing tourism industry, which in 1997 generated some $443 billion in income.

A new initiative was launched to revive the planet's fragile drylands, which are home to many of the world's poorest people and are severely threatened by climate change, drought and human activities, UNEP said. The Conference also moved to protect agricultural, freshwater, forest, and marine and coastal ecosystems, which are both vulnerable and valuable since they provide food and other essential resources.

According to UNEP, "nature's services" -- such as flood control and air purification -- are thought to be worth some $36 trillion a year, and 40 per cent of the economy of the developing world is directly based on biodiversity. Yet human behavior is rapidly weakening and destroying ecosystems. If current trends continue, some 34,000 plants and 5,200 animal species, including one in eight birds, face extinction.

Next week, the first-ever Global Ministerial Environment Forum will be held in Malmo, Sweden. The Forum, which also serves as a session of the UNEP Governing Council, will be attended by up to 100 environment ministers who will work to identify the major environmental challenges of the 21st century.

(end text)

This site is produced and maintained by the U.S. Department of State. Links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.