CBD Convention on Biological Diversity [to 12 September 2015]
http://www.cbd.int/press-releases/

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STATEMENT OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY BRAULIO FERREIRA DE SOUZA DIAS on the occasion of the UNITED NATIONS DAY FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION
12 SEPTEMBER 2015
… South-South and triangular cooperation are especially important as the overwhelming majority of the Earth’s biodiversity is found in developing countries. Biodiversity – and the many ecosystem services associated with it – form the foundation of the Earth’s life support systems and underpin human lives and well-being. Anchored in the post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals is a clear objective to mainstream biodiversity and ecosystem services in key national priorities and help countries achieve the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

Within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), South-South cooperation has been identified as a key mechanism for scientific and technical cooperation in support of the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. Scientists and agencies based in the South are playing a major role in the implementation of the Convention. Working with the Secretariat of the CBD, for instance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has scaled up its support to South-South Cooperation and launched a South-South Cooperation Exchange Mechanism, linked to the Consortium of Scientific Partners on Biodiversity, and supporting the implementation of the Multi-Year Plan of Action for South-South Cooperation on Biodiversity for Development, adopted in parallel to the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention and recognized by the Parties.

An innovative agreement of collaboration signed in 2013 between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and the Brazilian Technical Cooperation Agency has enabled experts from Embrapa to provide technical expertise to developing countries. Among the 22 members of the Convention’s Consortium of Scientific Partners on Biodiversity are several global players from the South, such as the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), the Mexican National Commission for Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), the Costa Rican National Biodiversity Institute (InBio) and the Colombian Humboldt Institute. The Secretariat also works with UNEP to support its network of universities, mostly from the South, through the Global Universities Partnership on Environment and Sustainability…