Biodiversity talks review funding of conservation work
Biodiversity talks review funding of conservation work
JAKARTA (JP): Funding has emerged as a major bone of
contention at the ongoing international biodiversity conference
here.
On the third day of the Second Conference of Parties to the
Convention of Biodiversity yesterday, delegates from developing
countries demanded that industrialized countries contribute more
towards the funding of conservation efforts.
The industrialized countries have reportedly refused to commit
more than the amounts already pledged.
The need for additional resources is affirmed in the
Convention of Biodiversity itself, which was issued at the Earth
Summit in Brazil in 1992. Article 20 states that developed
country parties should provide "new and additional financial
resources" towards the implementation of the Convention.
Sources cited "aid fatigue" on the part of developed countries
as the reason behind their reluctance to donate further funds.
"They say they lack money for aid now, but that is just a
matter of their priorities," a source from the Indonesian
delegation told The Jakarta Post.
"Delegates from developed countries also said they have
contributed a lot to other (multilateral) funding institutions,
such as overseas development aid," the source added during a
break in the conference proceedings.
Most developed countries reportedly want to adhere to what is
called the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), so far the only
source from which countries can request funds for various
biodiversity projects, such as the compilation of inventories of
their natural resources.
Delegates from developing countries said the facility's funds,
which now stand about US$2 billion for 1994-1997, are too little
and that its procedures are too slow in meeting requests for
various projects.
A delegate from Malawi told the conference that the World
Bank, which manages the GEF, often underestimates local experts
in the consultation processes.
Ting Wen Lian of Malaysia proposed that the GEF be directly
managed by the Convention's secretariat, to ease access to the
funds.
The Convention's executive secretary, Calestous Juma, told
reporters that the secretariat has proposed the establishment of
national trust funds to share responsibility for purposes of
conservation and sustainable development.
"Indonesia has a good model of a national trust fund," he
said.
He said that many financial contributions pledged to the GEF
have not been made.
On the issue of internationally-binding rules on genetic
engineering, Juma said the majority of countries have agreed
about the need to establish "biosafety protocols".
However, some countries are expected to call for a
postponement for various reasons, he added.
Aca Sugandhy, an Indonesian delegate, said some developing
countries have called for the protocols to be settled by 1997.
Others are worried that the necessary skills, for instance
those needed to assess products of genetic engineering, may not
be ready in their countries by that time, Sugandhy said.
Developed countries are also stalling on the issue.
A German conservationist said regulations which compel the
releasing of information on genetically-engineered products are
vital for the public.
"Without a protocol, industries are more free to market
products in developing countries where the public is not well
informed," Christine von Weizsacker of the Ecoropa environmental
network told The Post. (anr)