Multilateral Environmental Agreements

Convention on Biological Diversity

Status

Signed June 11, 1992
Ratified by Canada on December 4, 1992
Entered into force internationally and for Canada on December 29, 1993

Objectives

The Convention aims at the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources (including appropriate access to those resources and the transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and technologies), and to provide for appropriate funding.

Commitments

Canada must present a report to the Conference of the Parties (CoP) on national implementation of the Convention. Following an analysis of first national reports submitted in 1998, the CoP, at its fifth meeting, endorsed a format for future national reporting through which the status of national implementation, including the level of implementation, relative priorities, constraints encountered, and issues not yet addressed, can be measured. Parties were requested to submit their second national reports for consideration at the sixth meeting of the CoP and their third national reports for consideration at the eighth meeting of the COP. Canada has submitted its first, second and third national reports to the Convention Secretariat. (National reports will be called for every four years and will be considered at alternate CoP meetings.) A draft format for the fourth national reports will be considered at the eighth meeting of the CoP in March 2006. Building on the methodology and format used for the third national reports, the format for the fourth national reports includes questions on strategic objectives and goals established under the Strategic Plan, allows Parties to provide information on the experience of implementation of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and facilitate the identification of obstacles and impediments to implementation.

In May 2004, the Government of Canada announced that it would provide the CBD Secretariat with funding over ten years in support of the operations of the Convention. Canada must also provide financial resources, knowledge, and technology for developing country implementation. There will also be a requirement to submit, on a voluntary basis, thematic reports on a variety of issues and subject areas.

Action Required

Environment Canada is the lead department, although action by all jurisdictions and other government departments (OGDs) is required. Environment Canada must facilitate:

• federal and national planning and reporting;
• provision of financial resources, knowledge and technology for developing country implementation; and
• the development of Canadian negotiating positions for international meetings including, inter alia, Conferences of the Parties (CoPs), the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), Biosafety, Indigenous 8 (j), and Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing.

Activities

Environment Canada has facilitated Canadian activities in the following areas:

• Developing, in 1995, the Canadian Biodiversity Strategy including formal provincial and territorial endorsement. The strategy provides a national planning framework for the integration of biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of biological resources into sectoral and cross-sectoral, land, and resource-use decisions.
  • In September 2001, Ministers of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Forestry, and Wildlife met and endorsed a number of inter-jurisdictional and cross-sectoral priorities for implementing the Canadian Biodiversity Strategy. These included biodiversity science capacity, biological information management, biodiversity status and trends reporting, invasive alien species, and stewardship.
    
    
  • In September 2003, ministers recommitted to the Strategy and concurred with plans for advancing work on these four implementation priorities, thereby setting the stage for continued inter-jurisdictional collaboration and consultation and for the implementation of programs of work in support of each priority. Such programs of work build on, and link, the significant body of work that is already taking place within and among jurisdictions and sectors. Each jurisdiction has also committed to reporting on how it is implementing the Strategy.
    
    
  • In 2004, federal, provincial and territorial ministers released An Invasive Alien Species Strategy for Canada. This national strategy establishes a comprehensive, coordinated and efficient approach to protecting Canada’s ecosystems, animals and plants. The strategy is designed to address the threat posed by invasive alien species to Canadian wildlife, forests, fisheries and other resource sectors. Ministers also agreed to work together on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). ABS refers to the third objective of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, which calls for “the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge,” particularly in relation to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.
    
    
  • In 2005, federal, provincial and territorial ministers agreed to the development of a Framework for implementation of the Canadian Biodiversity Strategy that will: provide measurable outcomes with focus on natural capital and ecosystem services; support Canada’s Biodiversity Strategy goals and strategic directions; be compatible with provincial, territorial and sector-based plans and strategies ; enable reporting under international agreements such as Convention on Biological Diversity; and, be inclusive and transparent and engage partners and stakeholders in the process. A draft Framework will be ready for review by ministers in the Fall of 2006
    
    
• Reporting on federal implementation of the Strategy
  • Biodiversity in the Forest: The Canadian Forestry Service Three-Year Action Plan;
  • Biodiversity in Agriculture: Agri-Food and Agriculture Canada's Action Plan;
  • Implementing the Canadian Biodiversity Strategy: Protected Areas;
  • Learning About Biodiversity: A First Look at the Theory and Practice of Biological Education, Awareness and Training in Canada, 1998;
  • Conserving Wildlife Diversity: Implementing the Canadian Biodiversity Strategy, 1998;
  • Learning Through Real-Life Experiences: Case Studies of Biodiversity Initiatives in Eastern Ontario, 2002.
    
    
• Encouraging provincial and private sector implementation of the strategy. British Columbia, Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Ontario have developed action plans subsequent to their participation in the development of the Strategy. In addition, the private sector and conservation groups have adopted the direction of the Strategy, as is evidenced in plans, programs, and strategies such as WWF-Canada’s The Nature Audit and the Canadian Boreal Initiative (an independent organization working with conservationists, First Nations, industry and others to link science, policy and conservation activities in Canada's boreal region).
  
  
• Reporting to the Conference of the Parties (CoP) (Caring for Canada's Biodiversity: Canada's First National Report to the CoPs to the Convention on Biological Diversity, 1998; Canada's Second National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2002; thematic reports on forest ecosystems, mountain ecosystems, protected areas, and technology transfer and co-operation).
  
  
• Developing Canadian negotiating positions for CoPs, Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) meetings, international indigenous meetings, meetings of the Ad Hoc Inter-sessional Working Group on Article 8 (j), meetings on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing, meetings on the operations of the Convention, a meeting on the interlinkages between biological diversity and climate change, and several biosafety negotiation sessions.
  
  
• Increasing national accessibility of biological and related data holdings to enable analysis for sound planning and decision-making and to develop the Canadian Biodiversity Information Network (CBIN).
  
  
• Enhancing federal co-operation in the area of biosystematics;
  
  
• Signing a Memorandum of Understanding with a number of other federal agencies (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canadian Museum of Nature).
  
  
• Developing a variety of national consultative mechanisms.
  
  
• Producing, in co-operation with partners, a variety of education, training, and awareness materials.
  
  
• Undertaking capacity building initiatives (e.g., Equator Initiative) to enhance the participation of developing countries.

Evidence of Compliance

See Commitments and Activities sections above.