Report
Official NEOPS Side Event during CBD COP12
Robert Blasiak, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo
At the groundbreaking 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, world leaders adopted three conventions, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the UN Convention on Desertification (UNCCD). The CBD has been tasked, among other things, with ensuring conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and its parties have been meeting on a biannual basis to formulate priorities and share insights on recent developments and progress in this area.
Salvatore Arico (UNESCO) and Shen Zhonghua
(The University of Tokyo) during the CBD COP12
side event "Governance and Sustainable Use of
Ocean Ecosystem Services and BBNJ"
With the issue of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) becoming an increasingly important topic in international settings, NEOPS organized an official side event during the twelfth Conference of the Parties to the CBD (CBD COP12), held in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea in October 2014. The side event, titled "Governance and Sustainable Use of Ocean Ecosystem Services and BBNJ" attracted an audience of representatives from national governments, the UNEP-WCMC, OECD, UN University, Bioversity International, Conservation International, the GEF and others.
Mina Hori (Kochi University), Salvatore Arico
(UNESCO) and Robert Blasiak (The University of
Tokyo) during the CBD COP12 side event
"Governance and Sustainable Use of Ocean
Ecosystem Services and BBNJ"
During the side event, NEOPS supported researchers from The University of Tokyo (Robert Blasiak and Shen Zhonghua) and Kochi University (Mina Hori) introduced their work. A subsequent discussion session was facilitated by UNESCO Programme Specialist Salvatore Arico, and concluded with strong interest from participants in learning more about NEOPS and fostering stronger international research linkages. A detailed report on the side event was prepared and has been published in the CBD compendium.
