Financing and biopiracy

• CONFERENCE DOCUMENTATION
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PRESENTATION Biodiversity represents our most valuable natural heritage and its conservation is one of our most urgent challenges. Beyond its immaterial value, biodiversity plays a vital role for human beings. Water purification, oxygen and carbon recycling, soil fertility, food production, drugs development, and general wealth protection are all examples of benefits provided freely by a healthy biodiversity. Yet human activities and our development choices in particular in the last 50 years have very often led to irreversible loss. Biodiversity services are provided for free but their loss has a cost - a huge one: around 50 billion euros a year and up to 14.000 billions euros by 2050. Biodiversity erosion is particularly alarming in developing countries with the constant plunder of their natural richness and corollary the exploitative appropriation of indigenous forms of traditional knowledge, the so-called biopiracy. In 2010, the COP10 on Biodiversity in Nagoya (Japan) agreed on a long-awaited Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) aiming at putting an end to biopiracy. This new legal instrument was a step forward, yet the whole issue of resource mobilisation for biodiversity protection was left aside. In a few weeks time, in October 2012, the COP11 in Hyderabad (India) will have to look at the best way to implement the ABS Protocol and turn it into a successful and efficient tool against biopiracy. In addition the international community is called upon by several civil society organisations to deliver on resource mobilisation and innovative sources of financing for biodiversity protection before it is too late. At Hyderabad, how will the challenge of fighting against biopiracy be tackled? Will measures on resource mobilisation live up to the high expectations? PROGRAMME

This conference is organised by MEPs Sandrine Bélier, Catherine Grèze, Satu Hassi, Keith Taylor
Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in FR/EN/DE/ES

14:30-15:00 Registration 15:00-16:00
OPENING
What is at stake at the next COP11?            
Chaired by Catherine Grèze and Sandrine Bélier, MEPs

• The plunder of traditional resources
  Video statement by Vandana Shiva, epistemologist, ecologist, writer, doctor in science philosophy and Indian women's rights activist
• The relation between man and nature
  Nicolas Hulot, Fondation pour la Nature et pour l'Homme
• COP-11: building from Nagoya
  David Duthie, Programme Officer, Convention on Biological Diversity

Q&A 16:00-17:00
PANEL 1
Fighting against biopiracy
Chaired by Catherine Grèze MEP

• Biopiracy: causes and consequences
  Matthieu Mellul, co-founder of "Collectif Biopiraterie"
• Incoherences and loopholes in the legal framework
  Claudio Chiarolla, Professor of International Law at Sciences Politiques Paris and responsible of studies on Governance and Biodiversity for Iddri (Institut du développement durable et des relations internationales)
• What are we calling for?
  Video statement by Vandana Shiva, epistemiologist, ecologist, writer, doctor in science philosophy and Indian women's rights activist

Q&A 17:00-18:00
PANEL 2
Towards a strategic resource mobilization
Chaired by Sandrine Bélier MEP

• How can the EU finance its biodiversity global commitments?
  Bruna Campos, EU Financial Perspectives Policy Officer, Stichting BirdLife Europe |Conservation International Europe
• The role of UNESCO in the strategic resource mobilization in favour of biodiversity
  Salvatore Aricò, Sr. Programme Specialist, Biodiversity Assessments and Inter-agency Coordination Leader, Natural Sciences Sector Cross-cutting Thematic Unit on Biodiversity Coordinator, UNESCO
• The EU approaches facing the resource mobilization challenges
  François Wakenhut, Head of Unit, Nature preservation and biodiversity, European Commission

Q&A

18:00-18:30
CONCLUSIONS
Chaired by Sandrine Bélier