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)