The Conference of the Parties,
Recalling Article 21 and related provisions of the Convention, Article 28 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and Article 25 of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing,
Also recalling decisions XIII/21 and III/8,
Noting with appreciation the report of the Global Environment Facility,
Taking note of the information regarding the implementation of Article 21 of the Convention contained in the note by the Executive Secretary on the financial mechanism,
Having considered recommendation 2/7 regarding review of implementation of the financial mechanism (Article 21),
1.Welcomes the successful conclusion of the seventh replenishment of the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, and expresses its appreciation for the continuing financial support from Parties and Governments for carrying out the tasks under the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 in its remaining years, and for supporting the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework in its first two years;
2.Notes that the biodiversity programming directions for the seventh replenishment of the Trust Fund reflect the guidance adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its thirteenth meeting, which includes the consolidated guidance to the financial mechanism and the four-year framework of programme priorities (July 2018 to June 2022), as well as further guidance;
3.Welcomes the Global Environment Facility’s process to review and upgrade its environmental and social safeguards and the related systems of its agencies, as well as its guidance to advance gender in its new gender implementation strategy, noting that the results will be applicable to all projects funded by the Facility, and invites the Facility to inform the Conference of the Parties about how it is taking into account the Convention’s voluntary guidelines on safeguards in biodiversity financing mechanisms in this important process;
4.Notes the ongoing review and updating against criteria of best practice of the Global Environment Facility’s policy on safeguards and rules of engagement with indigenous peoples;
5.Invites Parties, while utilizing allocations from the seventh replenishment, to support the collective action and contributions of indigenous peoples and local communities towards achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets through, as appropriate, programmes, projects and activities of indigenous peoples and local communities including the Small Grants Programme of the Global Environment Facility;
6.Invites the Global Environment Facility to continue its support for national implementation activities under the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 in an efficient manner, with a view to enabling Parties to enhance progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets by 2020;
7.Invites the Global Environment Facility, in line with the consolidated guidance provided in decision XIII/21, to continue to provide all eligible Parties with support for capacity building:
(a)On issues identified by the Parties to facilitate further implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing, including regional cooperation projects, with a view to facilitating the sharing of experiences and lessons learned and harnessing associated synergies;
(b)On the use of the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House, on the basis of experiences and lessons learned during the Project on Continued Enhancement of Building Capacity for Effective Participation in the Biosafety Clearing-House and using resources under the biodiversity focal area;
8.Invites the Global Environment Facility to continue making funds available to assist eligible Parties in implementing the Cartagena Protocol, in particular:
(a)To assist eligible Parties that have not yet done so in fully putting in place measures to implement the Protocol;
(b)To support eligible Parties in fulfilling their reporting obligations under the Protocol, including the preparation and submission of their fourth national reports under the Protocol;
(c)To support Parties in implementing compliance action plans regarding the achievement of compliance with the Protocol;
9.Invites the Global Environment Facility and other relevant funding agencies to provide funds for regional projects to support the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol, including projects aimed at building scientific capacity that could support countries’ actions towards detection and identification of living modified organisms, and in particular that could promote North-South and South-South sharing of experiences and lessons;
10.Expresses its appreciation for the financial support provided by the Global Environment Facility for a number of eligible Parties to support the preparation of their interim national reports on the implementation of their obligations under the Nagoya Protocol, and notes the importance of timely availability of financial resources to support the preparation and submission of national reports by the reporting deadline;
11.Invites the Global Environment Facility to continue to assist eligible Parties to implement the Nagoya Protocol, including the establishment of legislative, administrative and policy measures on access and benefit-sharing and related institutional arrangements, and to make funds available to this end;
12. Considers the sixth overall performance study of the Global Environment Facility, conducted by the Facility’s Independent Evaluation Office and completed in December 2017, as a good basis for the fifth review of the effectiveness of the financial mechanism, as well as the related submissions received from Parties, and invites the Council of the Global Environment Facility to take the following action in order to further improve the effectiveness of the financial mechanism:
(a) Continue to improve the design, management, and performance of the sixth-replenishment Integrated Approach Pilots, the seventh-replenishment impact programmes, other programmatic approaches, and multi-focal area projects in addressing drivers of environmental degradation;
(b) Promote awareness to the existing processes under the Conflict Resolution Commissioner to address complaints related to the operations of the financial mechanism;
(c) Further improve the sustainability of funded projects and programmes, including sustainable financing of protected areas;
(d) Continue to improve the efficiency and accountability of the Global Environment Facility partnership;
(e) Include the following information in its report to the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting:
(i) Progress in implementing the new co-financing policy;
(ii) Performance of the Global Environment Facility’s network of agencies;
13. Requests the Executive Secretary to take into account the experiences gained from past reviews of the effectiveness of the financial mechanism in preparing the terms of reference for the sixth review of the effectiveness of the financial mechanism, for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting;
14. Adopts the terms of reference for a full assessment of the amount of funds needed for the implementation of the Convention and its Protocols during the eighth replenishment period of the Trust Fund of the Global Environment Facility, as annexed to the present decision;
15. Invites relevant Parties to submit to the Executive Secretary their estimated funding and investment needs under the financial mechanism for the third determination of funding and investment requirements by the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting in connection with the eighth replenishment of the Trust Fund of the Global Environment Facility;
16. Requests the Executive Secretary, working with the contracted expert team in accordance with the terms of reference referred to in paragraph 14 above, to prepare a compilation of estimated funding and investment needs submitted by relevant Parties, building on and further fine-tuning the methodology and the three scenarios used by the second determination of funding needs, for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Implementation, at its third meeting, to inform the third determination of funding requirements by the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting, in anticipation of the eighth replenishment of the Trust Fund of the Global Environment Facility;
17. Requests the Subsidiary Body on Implementation at its third meeting to prepare proposals for a four-year outcome-oriented framework of programme priorities for the eighth replenishment period (July 2022 to June 2026) of the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, aligned with the draft post-2020 global biodiversity framework, for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting;
18. Encourages the Executive Secretary to work closely with the Global Environment Facility in the transition to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework;
19. Also encourages the Executive Secretary to work closely with agencies associated with the Global Environment Facility in the transition to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, taking into account the need to promote greater synergies between the Global Environment Facility and other financing mechanisms.
