Hyderabad to organize COP-11 biodiversity conference from October 1 to 9, 2012

Hyderabad is gearing up to host the International Biodiversity Conference to be held from October 1 to 9, 2012, at Hyderabad International Convention Centre near Hitex.
Earlier, the Central government had chosen Hyderabad over other four metros of the country for the event. They found Hyderabad to be the apt destination as it has the ability and logistic infrastructures for holding such an international event. This is the 11th Conference of Parties (COP-11) on biological diversity. It is expected that more than 30 countries and 12,000 participants will take part in this convention.
India has not hosted a meeting of a Conference of the Parties to a multilateral environmental agreement since 2002. This will be the first meeting to assess the implementation of the Nagoya biodiversity compact. It is expected that all countries who are Parties to the Convention will submit their national biodiversity strategies and action plans, by the time of the meeting next year.
The Hyderabad meeting is also important as it is widely expected that two new protocols to the Convention will have entered into force: the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, and the Nagoya -Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. It is expected that both of these protocols will have force of law should they receive sufficient numbers of instruments of ratification in the coming months. Currently, the Nagoya Protocol has 24 signatories and the Nagoya – Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol has 23.
The state and central ministries of environment and forest departments are working to finalize the guest room bookings in the city for the visiting delegates. Union Forest and Environment Secretary, Dr T Chatterji, visited the city and held talks with various agencies for the smooth execution of the international event. The meeting of the Conference of the Parties will also coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity as well with the Rio+20 meeting scheduled earlier in the year.
Source:Pharmabiz