Bangladesh and Congo highlighted challenges facing countries in biodiversity negotiations, amid longstanding concerns over financing, technology transfer and capacity gaps.
Bangladesh’s Acting Secretary for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr Fahmida Khanom, drew attention to the systemic challenges facing countries engaged in biodiversity negotiations at a ministerial lunch on Tuesday during the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, according to environmental journalist Stella Paul.
In a Facebook post recounting the gathering, Paul said the interventions by the Bangladeshi secretary and a minister from Congo stood out for explaining the difficulties their countries face as parties to the convention.
Paul, who said she was one of two journalists invited to the lunch, described the two representatives as the only participants who spelled out such challenges during the exchanges she observed.
Her account, however, did not detail the specific issues raised by Dr Khanom, nor did it include a transcript of her remarks.
The lunch brought together environment ministers and senior representatives attending the conference. Paul also noted that participants from recipient countries outnumbered those from donor countries at the table.
Developing countries have long argued that gaps in finance, technology transfer and capacity continue to hinder the implementation of global biodiversity commitments, a theme that has featured prominently in successive rounds of negotiations.
