UN Conference on Biodiversity begins today

The Andhra Pradesh Capital would host the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity beginning with meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP MOP 6) followed by 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 11) from Monday.

While COP MOP 6, a five-day meet will conclude on October 5, COP 11 will be held between October 8 and 19 and is expected to see participation of delegates and heads of some countries, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Around 2,000 delegates from more than 150 countries will participate in COP MOP 6, which will discuss and adopt further decisions to contribute to ensuring the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology.

It is expected that 'Cities for Life' Summit, a parallel programme during the summit, will bring together approximately 300 mayors, governors, high-ranking officials and their representative networks, as well as national governments, international organisations, UN agencies and specialists from across the world. COP MOP 6 will include decisions to advance the implementation of the 10-year Strategic Plan for the Protocol adopted in 2010 and the entry into force of the Nagoya Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Protocol.

The Cartagena Protocol Biosafety was adopted on 29 January 2000 and entered into force on September 11, 2003. At the COP MOP 6, delegates are expected to discuss issues related to capacity-building, the biosafety clearing house, the financial mechanism and resources for the protocol's implementation, risk assessment and risk management, socio-economic considerations concerning LMOs, compliance with the protocol's provisions as well as assessment and review of its effectiveness.
According to the Convention on Biological Diversity's executive secretary Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, COP MOP 6 provides yet another opportunity to further strengthen international cooperation and build global political support for the protocol and its supplementary protocol. It also presents an opportunity to lay new strategies and mobilise resources for the implementation of the two treaties.

The Andhra Pradesh Police has made elaborate security arrangements to ensure that the 19-day-long international convention passes off peacefully. The Cyberabad police said over 10,000 personnel of police would keep vigil at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), the venue of the conference, and the nearby Hyderabad International Trade Exhibition. As many as 10,138 police personnel of AP Police, including 1,353 from Cyberabad Police, will be deployed for the forthcoming bio-diversity meet, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kukatpally Division) M Malla Reddy had said earlier.

A team of United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) has already arrived in the city and held discussions with officials of Cyberabad Police Commissionerate with regard to security arrangements.

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