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Conference of the PartiesCOP-8 COP-7 What is the COP?The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the governing body of the Convention. Delegates from participating countries attend meetings every other year to negiotiate decisions and advance implementation of the Convention. The Conference of the Parties has moved to translate the articles of the Convention into practical actions by creating "programmes of work" for a number of thematic areas and cross-cutting issues such as marine and coastal biodiversity, protected areas and mountain biodiversity. The COP also created specific guidelines for how projects should be funded and created ad hoc working groups to address specific provisions of the Convention, such as access and benefit sharing, indigenous knowledge and safety in biotechnology. |
The Convention on Biological Diversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity, established in 1992, is the first global agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. Similar to the Kyoto treaty on climate change, the Convention on Biological Diversity guides the actions that nations take in conserving their natural resources.
The Convention provides tremendous opportunities for The Nature Conservancy to work in partnership with governments to further conservation of the world’s most important places. Over 180 countries have ratified the Convention and meet regularly to determine specific activities and approaches to be used for conservation.
In 2006, at the 8th Conference of the Parties (COP-8) The Nature Conservancy worked to:
- establish a strong Program of Work on Island Biodiversity;
- strengthen implementation and funding of the Program of Work on Protected Areas; and
- engage countries on preventing invasive species.
In 2004, at the 7th Conference of the Parties (COP-7) The Nature Conservancy contributed to the development of a global Program of Work on Protected Areas.
Background on the CBD
In 1992, the largest-ever meeting of world leaders took place at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. An historic set of agreements was signed at this Earth Summit, including two binding agreements: the Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity, which is the first global agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.
The Convention has three stated objectives: 1) conserving biodiversity, 2) using the components of biodiversity in a sustainable manner and 3) fairly and equitably sharing the benefits arising from genetic resources.
The Convention gained rapid and widespread acceptance. More than 150 governments signed the document at the Rio conference, and since then, 188 countries have ratified the treaty and have become Parties to the Convention.
The United States is one of the few countries that has not ratified the treaty.
Global Guidelines for National Action
The Convention requires that each government develop a strategy and a plan of action for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Thus far, the financial mechanism of the Convention has provided funding to 145 countries to develop these plans. 82 of the 153 developing countries have completed the preparation to develop these plans. 26 developed countries have already completed their plan or have adapted existing strategies to address biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.
The Convention provides a framework of goals and policies rather than hard regulations and commitments. Implementation is left up to the individual governments who are party to the Convention to fulfill in accordance with each government's particular situation, priorities and capability.
