The Side Event on Capacity Building as a Key Aspect of a New International Agreement on Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) and Options on Approaches, Modalities, and Strategies that took place on April 17, 2018 during the organizational meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) (General Assembly resolution 72/249)16 to 18 April 2018, New York, focused on tangible recommendations on options for capacity building and technology transfer for discussion by decision makers at the BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference. The event featured eleven key speakers, and drew about 85 participants. Co-organizers of the event included the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Tonga to the United Nations, Global Ocean Forum/International Coastal and Ocean Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, and Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan. See the side event agenda here.
The Side Event highlighted the work being done on the Policy Brief on Capacity Building as a Key Aspect of a New International Agreement on Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), a multi-author, multi-institutional effort, led by the GEF/FAO/GOF Capacity Development Project and its Communities of Practice, involving a set of 38 Organizing Authors and Contributing Authors from around the world. The Policy Brief focuses, in particular, on alternative modalities for capacity building and technology transfer in BBNJ taking into account the diversity of needs/capacities in different regions and of existing efforts in capacity building by the United Nations, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the academic sector relevant to BBNJ; options for and relevant experiences related to building a clearinghouse mechanisms for capacity building and technology transfer; and considerations and options relevant to financing. Various experiences with and perspectives on capacity building and technology transfer by the Kingdom of Tonga, the IOC/UNESCO, the Nippon Foundation and Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Government of Portugal, and the World Maritime University were highlighted at the side event. The presentations are available here.
Initial draft sections of the Policy Brief on Capacity Development on the following topics—Overview of Capacity Policy Brief, Clearing-house Mechanism, Options for Financing, and Possible Modalities for Linking Global, Regional, and National Level Capacity Building Efforts are available here. Please send any comments to Dr. Biliana Cicin-Sain, Global Ocean Forum, bilianacicin-sain@ globaloceans.org, preferably by May 1, 2018. A draft of the Policy Brief will be completed by June 1, 2018.
Photos by I. Fujii, OPRI-SPF