International news

Articles are presently being sought from members of civil society (including NGOs, social movements, indigenous organizations and representatives, local communities) for the ninth issue of the CBD newsletter for civil society, [square brackets], being prepared to coincide with the Eighteenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 18), being held 23-28 June 2014 in Montreal, Canada.

While 87% of consumers surveyed worldwide want companies to adopt sourcing policies that respect biodiversity, only 27% of the top 100 beauty and personal care companies actually mention biodiversity on their websites or in their corporate sociability reports, according to the newly launched 2014 Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) Biodiversity Barometer.

Statement by Mr. Braulio F. de Souza Dias, CBD Executive Secretary, at the opening of the Mediterranean Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas, Málaga, Spain, 7 - 11 April 2014

Statement of the CBD Executive Secretary, Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, on the occasion of the World Health Day, 7 April 2014

Statement by the CBD Executive Secretary, on the occasion of the United Nations Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group to Study Issues Relating to the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity Beyond Areas of National Jurisdiction, 1 - 4 April 2014, UNHQ, New York

Statement by Mr. Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, CBD Executive Secretary, on the occasion of the Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Capacity-Building Workshop on the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing, Minsk, Belarus, 31 March - 4 April 2014

Statement by Mr. Braulio F. de Souza Dias, CBD Executive Secretary, at the opening of the North-West Atlantic Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas, Montreal, Canada, 24 - 28 March 2014

As the world community works to address the growing need for water and energy, and develops an integrated framework of Sustainable Development Goals, let us work together and ensure that water, biodiversity and energy are used sustainably, to help us build the future we want.

As we celebrate the theme of this year's International Day of Forests, "Forests for Sustainable Development", I encourage countries to assess the status of their natural forest capital and the socio-economic contributions that forests provide to society at large.

Montreal, 7 March 2014 - South Sudan deposited its instrument of accession to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on 17 February 2014, thus becoming the 194th Party to the global treaty on biodiversity and sustainable development. With this accession, the CBD will enter into force for South Sudan on 18 May 2014.