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SA: Barbara Thomson: Address by Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs, opening statement at the Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries, Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea (15/10/2014)

SA: Barbara Thomson: Address by Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs, opening statement at the Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries, Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea (15/10/2014)

15th October 2014

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Your Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen.

I bring warm greetings from the people of South Africa, your partners in the Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries (LMMC). 
 
The Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs, Ms Barbara Thomson, handed over chairmanship of the Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries to the Under-Secretary of the National Council of Protected Areas of Guatemala, Mr Marco Tax Marroquin. I welcome you to this important meeting of the LMMC and wish to express my gratitude that you could find time in your busy schedules this week to honour the invitation to this meeting.

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Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, we are gathered here today united by a common commitment to nature, conservation, sustainable use and the fair and equitable utilisation of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources.

As you know the Group of 18 LMMCs are countries that contain over 70% of global biological diversity.  What is interesting is that this select group of LMMC’s – mostly developing economies – covers about 10 percent of the Earth’s surface area.

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The variety of life on Earth is a critical foundation of our Planet’s life support systems contributing directly to human well-being in many ways. Biodiversity provides us with basic goods and services such as food, fibre, fuel and medicine, as well as embracing our diverse cultural and historical heritage.

Our natural world contributes to our general health and well-being through effective eco-system functioning and the provision of benefits and services such as water supply and purification, pollination, regulation of pests and diseases, soil nutrient cycling and fertility.

The critical role that the LMMC countries thus play in the conservation of the world’s biodiversity as a global common good can therefore not be over-emphasised.  It is befitting that the group of LMMCs have come together here to join the global community at the 12th Session of the Conference of Parties to the CBD which has as its theme Biodiversity for Sustainable Development.

This CoP marks not only our commitment to achieve sustainable development, but will leave a historical stamp through the First Meeting of Parties to the Nagoya Protocol (CoP MOP1). The LMMCs are a reservoir of genetic resources that have, until now, not been fully enjoyed by us, as the provider countries of these resources.

South Africa is one of the 48 countries that ratified the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing in 2013. This ratification was a major step for our government towards the sustainable development of South Africa’s green economy.

It is in this context that we welcome the entering into force of the Nagoya Protocol this past weekend ahead of the first meeting of Parties which is expected to deliver a set of new incentives to conserve and sustainably utilise biodiversity and thus grow our green economies.

I would like to congratulate LMMCs that have ratified the Nagoya Protocol and also encourage the rest to ratify and deposit their instruments of ratification as soon as their national processes will allow.

Excellences, Honourable delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, at its 13th session in July 2014 the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group (OWG) for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) proposed a set of 17 goals. Three of these goals are related to biodiversity and ecosystems.

It will therefore be important to ensure that biodiversity and ecosystems are effectively integrated into the post 2015 development agenda.

Our global sustainability agenda must integrate the three pillars of sustainable development through sustainable utilisation of natural resources and ecosystems as a precondition for long-term poverty eradication and well-being. Development of the SDGs should therefore draw from progress made and lessons learnt from the medium development goals (MDGs) and must not deviate from agreed-to agreements and targets in the relevant conventions.

It is our view that the LMMCs should emphasise the importance of growing links between MDGs and SDGs by identifying gaps and building on their strengths. The MDGs demonstrate that international goals, targets and indicators can galvanise action and political will towards a core set of development priorities.

Excellences, ladies and gentlemen, the delegates representing the 192 Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity, as well as NGOs, indigenous peoples, scientists and the private sector  meeting here in Pyeongchang to agree how to  the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011 to 2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The decisions taken here will inevitably influence the future we want for our people.

Since South Africa took over chairmanship of the LMMCs from the able hands of the Philippines in 2012 there has been continued active organising LMMC coordination on key inter-sessional meetings of the CBD and its protocols.  This has enhanced the efficiency and the contribution of the group thereby strengthening its voice and visibility.

Such LMMC coordination meetings were held in the margins of the following meetings:

    Seventeenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 17) held on the 14 - 18 October 2013 - Montreal, Canada.
    Third Meeting of the Open-ended Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ICNP-3) held in Korea Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, 24-28 February 2014.
    Fifth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention (WGRI 5) held on the 16 - 20 June 2014 - Montreal, Canadian.
    Eighteenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 18) held on the 23 - 28 June 2014 - Montreal, Canada.

I am pleased to report that a legacy of the past two years is the development of an LMMC website in a manner that would ensure its continued existence and I’ll discuss how we’ll take this forward with the incoming Chair. 
 
The Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs, Ms Barbara Thomson, handed over chairmanship of the Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries to the Under-Secretary of the National Council of Protected Areas of Guatemala, Mr Marco Tax Marroquin.

There is however an interim arrangement where the LMMC website has been developed and is presently being hosted by the Department of Environmental Affairs in South Africa, as a temporary measure, whilst we explore various options for hosting to ensure independence and sustainability.

A Road Map that will guide our activities moving forward has been initiated. I hope that the incoming Chairperson will see this process to fruition and I am delighted by the fact that they already have a draft plan that is being consulted.

Excellencies, as we hand over the chairpersonship of the LMMC to Guatemala, it is our view that we stand at a convergence of progress and challenges resulting from the implementation of the MDGs, the CBD and its two protocols including its strategic plan, its targets and the procedures still required to implement that.

Given this the LMMCs need to play a critical role in influencing the agenda and outcomes of this CoP, including the CoP MOP1 of the Nagoya Protocol on ABS.

Among the issues that require our undivided attention are the outcomes of the 4th Global Biodiversity Outlook, resource mobilisation, the guidelines to the financial mechanism (GEF) and synthetic biology as a new and emerging issue.

Under the CoP MOP1 of the Nagoya Protocol we also need to keep our eyes on the key issues relating to the Global Multi-Lateral Benefit Sharing Mechanism and compliance mechanisms and how we should address cases of non-compliance, including the model contractual clauses thereof.

Speaking on behalf of the people of South Africa, I would like to personally thank you, the members of the LMMC, for entrusting my country with the leadership of this all-important community for the past two years. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our predecessors – the Philippines, Brazil, Kenya, India and Mexico – for the leadership shown in bringing this group this far.

The chairpersonship of the LMMC brings with it a commitment to ensuring that biological diversity is conserved for future generations.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs

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