The Global Environment Facility establishes a dedicated Trust Fund for the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing.
Montreal, 18 March 2011: At the initiative of Japan, a dedicated Trust Fund for the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising out of their Utilization has been established at the Global Environment Facility on 17 March 2011. The Trust Fund for Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (NPIF) aims at facilitating the early entry into force and the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol.
“I would like to pay tribute to the Government of Japan, which has ceaselessly provided the leadership necessary to create this fund, even in the midst of the tragedy that continues to unfold around them. I stand amazed and inspired by Japan’s commitment to the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol and to the global environment. The GEF could not ask for a better friend.” said Madam Monique Barbut, CEO and Chairperson of Global Environment Facility.
The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, adopted by the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in October 2010, provides a set of international rules that can facilitate access and benefit-sharing for utilizing genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge in various sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, horticulture, cosmetics and biotechnology, and thus establish a bridge between conservation and sustainable use and economic development. It is perceived as a win-win outcome for the environment and economics: it is a multilateral environmental agreement that provides solution to economics, and it is also an economic treaty that provides necessary protection to the environment. Moreover, it is the first international economic instrument that is explicitly guided and driven by consideration of fairness and equitability, which provides a good example for the new international economic order of the twenty-first century.
“The establishment of a dedicated GEF window on the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing is yet an additional testimony of Japan leadership as well as demonstration of the financial institution of sustainable development to play its role in the implementation of the Nagoya Biodiversity Compact.” said Mr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization was officially opened for signature by Parties to the CBD in New York on 2 February 2011. The following Parties have already signed the Protocol: Colombia, Yemen, Brazil, Algeria, Mexico and Rwanda. The next signing ceremony will take place in New York on 11 May 2011 in conjunction with the High Level Segment of the 19th session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. The Nagoya Protocol remains open for signature until 1 February 2012 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The Nagoya Protocol enters into force 90 days after the deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession. To ensure that the first meeting of the governing body of this historic instrument will take place in India in October 2012 back-to-back with COP 11, 50 ratifications are required before 19 July 2012. The GEF has adopted a Medium Sized Project to ensure the early entry into force of the Protocol.
About the Global Environment Facility
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) unites 182 member governments — in partnership with international institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector providing grants to developing countries and countries with economies in transition, linking local, national, and global environmental challenges in order to promote sustainable futures for all. Established in 1991, the GEF is today the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment investing in over 2,700 projects.