News from COP 9 / MOP 4 of the
Convention on Biological Diverstity

Bonn, May 2008

The ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 9) of the Convention of Biological Diversity is taking place in Bonn, Germany, from 19 to 30 May 2008. COP 9 will include a high-level ministerial segment organized by the host country in consultation with the Secretariat and the Bureau (from 28 to 30 May). The fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP 4) took place in Bonn, from 12 to 16 May 2008.

Open Letters

• Open letter to the members of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) - Many organizations around the world will give a clear message against the expansion of monoculture tree plantations, agrofuels and GE trees. Also available in Spanish, French and Portuguese

• Letter from the NGOs to the MOP 4 - May 2008 - Also available in Spanish, French, German and Dutch

• Civil society demands responsible decisions with regard of agrofuels, transgenic trees and the technology Terminator. Two open letters to CBD express similar concerns and demands - Press release, May 2008. Also available in Spanish.

Opening Statements

• Civil Society Opening Statement at COP 9 - 19th May 2008

• Intervencion de la Via Campesina en la conferencia de la Convencion de Biodiversidad - Jose Oviedo - 19th May 2008 - Only available in Spanish

• International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity Opening Statemen at the COP9 - 19 May 2008

WRM Documents to the COP 9

• The invisibility of women and plantations in the CBD - By the WRM, May 2008. Also available in Spanish, French and Portuguese.

• A Tale of Two Conventions - Editorial from the WRM Bulletin nº 129 - April 2008. Also available in Spanish, French and Portuguese.

• An appeal to COP9: Biodiversity with and for people - Article from the WRM Bulletin nº 129 - April 2008. Also available in Spanish, French and Portuguese

Other Relevant Information

• Indigenous Delegates Resist REDD "Program" - Report By IIFB Media Team

• The problems of GE trees and industrial tree plantations are inseparable - by Ana Filippini - World Rainforest Movement - article published at ECO - COP9

• MEP Report Calls for 10% Biofuel Target to be Scrapped - Press Release by AEFJN (Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network), Biofuelwatch, Carbon Trade Watch, COAG, Corporate Europe Observatory, CPE (European Farmers Coordination), Ecologistas en Acción (Spain), Econexus, FIAN, GRR, the Soya Alliance and the Transnational Institute. 28th May 2008

• FSC is misleading the public - Activists from Global Forests Coalition and World Rainforest Movement made their voices heard at a side event organized by the Forest Stewardship Council. 28th May 2008

• Activists Symbolically Cut Trees to Save Forests and Call for GE Trees Ban - Press Release - 27th May 2008

• Third intervention from NGOs in support of a ban on GE trees - Global Justice Ecology Project, 26th May 2008

• Second intervention from NGOs in support of a ban on GE trees - Global Justice Ecology Project, 26th May 2008

• Protected Areas: Parties to the CBD must promote sustainable use to achieve biological diversity - 23th May, 2008.

• Climate Justice Groups Warn of False Solutions to Climate Change at the CBD - 23th May, 2008. Also available in French and Spanish

• Emplazan a miembros de la Convención sobre Diversidad Biológica por Conflicto Industria Forestal - 22th May, 2008 Only available in Spanish

• La Via Campesina se une a las celebraciones del Día de la Biodiversidad - 22 th May. Bonn, Alemania. Only available in Spanish

• Civil Society statement on the World Food Emergency. No More "Failures-as-Usual"! - Also available in Spanish and French

• Intervention from NGOs in support of a ban on GE trees - Global Justice Ecology Project, 21th May, 2008

• Forests and the CBD: What Has Worked (and What Has Not) - Global Foerst Coalition report, "Forests and the Biodiversity Convention", released at a press conference on Tuesday, 20 May in the CBD Press Centre

• COP 9: Via Campesina Says Monocultures and GMO are a Threat to Biodiversity - Radio Mundo Real - 19ty May 2008. Also Available in Spanish

• Groups and Scientists Call for Halt to Releases of Genetically Engineered Trees - Prees Release, 15 May 2008

• Civil Society at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity: Ten Urgent Matters for life and livelihoods on earth - CBD Alliance Press Release. 13 May 2008, at COP 9. Also available in Spanish, French and German.

• "Social movements and organisations do not accept the export of ethanol and other agrofuels (from Brazil) and say that the production of ethanol in Brazil is not sustainable" - Declaration by FIAN Brasil - Rede de Informação e Ação pelo Direito a Se Alimentar, Centro Ecológico, Inesc - Instituto de Estudos Socioeconômicos e Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos - 6th May 2008 - Also available in Portuguese.

• Open letter on Genetically Modified Trees sent to all members of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the Convention on Biological Diversity - 18 - 22 February 2008 - FAO, Rome, Italy. Also available in Spanish, French and Portuguese .

• The CBD Alliance has also launched a media advisory highlighting ten of civil society's most pressing concerns to be discussed at the upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity. It includes:

Overview: Matters for life on earth
1. Food, hunger, and agricultural biodiversity: The security of food supplies depends on decisive CBD action
2. Agrofuels: A major threat to biodiversity and no solution to climate change
3. Global Forests: Critical ecosystems for livelihoods and life
4. Genetically Engineered Trees: A global threat to forests and peoples
5. Ocean fertilization and geo-engineering: Putting the brakes on extreme climate experiments
6. The Ecosystem Approach: How governments can learn from Indigenous Peoples and local communities
7. Ownership on life: Ending biopiracy and respecting Indigenous Peoples rights
8. Protected Areas: Meeting 2010 targets
9. Contamination from genetically engineered organisms: No victim shall go uncompensated
10. Invasive Alien Species: From review to implementation

Also available in Spanish, French and German.

• Via Campesina Position Paper - Protocol on Biosecurity and the Convention on Biodiversity: No to the privatization of biodiversity! Family farming, a solution to the challenge of biodiversity and climate change - April 2008. Also available in Spanish.

ECO - Publication of the Civil Society Community

• ECO Volume 23 | COP 9

Issue 10 - 30May COP 9 Honour Roll; Business and the UN: A Primer; Making the CBD work; More Report Cards: Some Standouts; Cultural Diversity for Biodiversity Conservation; Golden Chainsaw Award - China; FSC is misleading the public; Street protests during MOP4 and COP9

Issue 9 - 29 May The Bonnfire of Biodiversity - fuelling the food crisis; RUTSCHGEFAHR!! The World Bank and the Big Biodiversity Offset; Making the CBD work; Offsetting Corporate Sins by Planting Trees at the Convention on Buying Diversity; CBD sold to WTO??; Notes from the COP

Issue 8 - 28 May, 2008 Ministers with their magic wands?; Progress Report update and revisions; India’s Biodiversity Regime: All Access, No Benefit-sharing; Protected Areas: On the Right Terms; Agro fools – where are we at?; New Zealand cannot resist; Notes from the COP

Issue 7 - 27 May, 2008 Progress Report on COP9; Make PoWPA a reality; Women and Biodiversity; Canada and Japan stalling on ABS; Anywhere but Canada!; COP Hor[r]o[r]scope; Biodiversity Offsets

Issue 6 - 26 May, 2008 Will COP 9 be the death of 8(j)?; Sustainable Consumption and Production; Tourism and Biodiversity; Japan making waves (again); EU and ABS; Food prices hike in spite of record production levels

Issue 5 - 23 May, 2008 Gene Giants Brand Themselves as Climate Saviours; UN criticizes genetically engineered crops in Indian Agriculture; Who is implementing the Forest PoW?; 2010 Target, Protected Areas, and Life-web; Stocks down on Thursday; Addressing hunger and food security: conserving agricultural biodiversity locally; Notes from the COP

Issue 4 - 22 May, 2008 - A Call to Action on the World Food Emergency, Some history on Jeffrey Sachs, Ocean Fertilization, Captain Hook Awards for Biopiracy, WWF on Marine Protected Areas, Nature is more than Carbon, Brazil agrofuels update.

Issue 3 - May 21, 2008 - No protected areas without recognition of rights; Who is afraid of NGOs’ proposals? Canada !; Invasive Alien Species: An Ounce of Prevention; Alternative COP theme Song; Should Parties subsidize business engagement in the CBD process?; Youth Demands to COP 9; Notes from the COP

Issue 2 - May 20, 2008 - Forest Protection is Climate Protection, Civil Society's Opening Statement, Fictitious Forests, The Brazil-Germany deal

Issue 1 - May 19, 2008 10 Demands for COP9, The Ins and Outs of Incentives, agricultural biodiversity and the power of small-scale farming.

• ECO Volume 22 | MOP 4

Issue 1- Read about Planet Diversity; and a report on the Friends of the Chair meeting.

Issue 2 - No to Corporate Compact on Liability, Exposing PRRI, Japan must not block consumer safety, The German-Brazil Agrofuel agreement

Links

CBD Alliance

Earth Negotiations Bulletin - ENB

Global Justice Ecology Project

Global Forest Coalition

Undercover COP

Radio Mundo Real

La Vía Campesina

WRM special section on GM Trees

WRM special section on Agrofuels

WRM special section on Biodiversity

COP 9 Official Web Site