'UN biodiversity meet moving in right direction'

Observing that deliberations at the ongoing UN biodiversity convention in Hyderabad are moving ahead in a positive manner, Union Environment Minister Jayanti Natarajan today expressed confidence that a constructive conclusion would be achieved.

The discussions in the High Level Segment of the XI Conference of Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday, were extremely productive, she said.

The high level plenary segment started today. The discussions have been extremely illuminating. The proceedings are going on extremely well. We are now midway through the conference. The delegations have been working with a sense of purpose, Natarajan said.

Noting that there have been different perspectives on the issue of resource mobilisation which needed to be sorted out, the Minister exuded confidence that a conclusion would be arrived at. Resource mobilisation for biodiversity conservation has emerged as the major issue at the convention, which started last week