Convention on Biodiversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

    An international legally-binding treaty with three main goals:

•  Conservation of biodiversity
•  Sustainable use of biodiversity
•  Fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.

 known informally as the Biodiversity Convention

Objective  : To develop national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993.

It  covers biodiversity at all levels: ecosystems, species and genetic resources.

It covers all possible domains that are directly or indirectly related to biodiversity and its role in development.

Governing body  - the Conference of the Parties (COP).

Unlike other international agreements that set compulsory targets and obligations, the CBD takes a flexible approach to implementation. It functions to find  general goals and policies, and its the decision of the countries  to determine how they want to implement them.

The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) is based in Montreal, Canada.

Its main function is to assist governments in the implementation of the CBD and its programmes of work, to organize meetings, draft documents, and coordinate with other international organizations and collect and spread information.

As of 2016, the Convention has 196 parties.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity  - An international treaty governing the movements of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another.

It was adopted on 29 January 2000 as a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity and entered into force on 11 September 2003.

The Nagoya Protocol 

International agreement which aims at sharing the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

 It was adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at its tenth meeting on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan.