9th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties
Bonn, Germany (19 - 30 May 2008)

The 9th COP meeting of the biggest biological diversity convention was organized between 19 and 30 May, 2008 in Bonn, Germany. There were approximately 4000 participants from around the world, among them 80 ministers and 30 more high level representatives took part on the High Level Segment of the Meeting. After twelve days of negotiations delegates of contracting countries took altogether 37 decisions.

During the conference, while the two Working Groups were constantly negotiating the main topics of the meeting, 3-4 contact groups and the so-called friends of the chair groups were discussing the more problematic issues.
List of COP 9 Decisions>>
Summary by the Earth Negotiations Bulletin>>
Summary of COP 9 Decisions for governments (xls)>>

The main topics negotiated:
1. Agro-biodiversity and agrofuels (decision IX/2)
Agrofuels being one of the most problematic issues at the COP, positions of various delegates and NGOs were very far from each other in the beginning. Finally, after long negotiations a compromise decision was reached. Although there was no de facto moratorium agreed for agrofuel production, delegates agreed, to consider ways and means to promote the positive and minimize the negative impacts of the production and use of biofuels on biodiversity.
Brazil, the biggest agrofuel producer, accepted this decision with great difficulty. The African Group lobbied for a complete moratorium, but their suggestion was not pushed through. The standpoint of the European Union regarding this issue was somewhere in between.
Sadly, delegates rather focused on the future process of international negotiations. (Regional workshops will be organized until 2010.) This postpones concrete actions for the coming years. The results of workshops will be discussed and submitted to COP10 by the Convention's Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA).

2. Forest biodiversity (IX/5)
The COP urged parties to handle the obstacles of sustainable forestry and harmonize it with property and resource ownership rights. Besides, contracting countries should support sustainable forestry and ecosystem approach in each type of forest and according to COP decision, the precautionary approach should be addressed in case of GM (genetically modified) trees. Moreover, scientific based, long-term comprehensive impact analysis should be carried out before authorization of GM trees.
The African Group lobbied for a moratorium in this issue too, but unfortunately they didn't find sufficient support for their position. Sadly, the EU standpoint was not that far-reaching.
Unfortunately, the COP only asks Parties to handle and take into consideration the direct and indirect, negative and positive impacts of large or industrial scale biomass production and utilization on forest biodiversity.

3. Incentives (IX/6)
The COP asks the Executive Secretary to organize an international workshop on how harmful, perverse incentives can be eliminated. It also asks relevant institutions to carry out further research on positive incentives and how payment for ecosystem services can be realized. However, the COP failed to decide upon the development of guidelines on incentives and did not recognized that the valuation of ecosystem services could not be the solution to stop biodiversity loss and conserve nature effectively. Instead, comprehensive economic and social problems should be solved and harmonized with environmental issues.

4. Biodiversity and climate change (IX/16)
Within the framework of climate change mitigation, the emerging issue of ocean fertilization was considered. (It means pumping nutrients into the water to stimulate algae growth. As the amount of algae increases more carbon-dioxide can be bound.)
The COP requests Parties and urges other governments, in accordance with the precautionary approach, to ensure that ocean fertilization activities do not take place until there is an adequate scientific basis on which to justify such activities, and a global, transparent and effective control and regulatory mechanism is in place for these activities. Only small scale scientific research studies within coastal waters are allowed, which cannot be used for generating and selling carbon offsets or any other commercial purposes. The COP also recognizes the importance of the conservation and sustainable use of wetland biodiversity, particularly peatlands, in addressing climate change.

5. Protected areas (IX/18)
The COP decision deals with the Programme of Work implementation and financial resources mobilization, and urges Parties to provide financial background for the adequate implementation as a matter of urgency.
The COP welcomes the LifeWeb initiative, which brings together developing countries and donors for the establishment of protected areas. Nations that have neither the financial background nor capacity to put natural habitats under protection can submit areas onto the LifeWeb list. The donor countries in turn can choose from that list which site to support. Germany, Norway and Switzerland have already contributed to this initiative with large amounts of money.
The COP also emphasized the role of protected areas and their networks in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Besides, it underlined the significance of additional research and awareness-raising.