International Negotiations

The Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has approved the dates of the next Committee on Forestry (COFO), set for 23–27 June 2014. The biennial session will be held at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, and will bring together heads of forest services and other senior government officials to identify emerging policy and technical issues, to seek solutions and to advise FAO and others on appropriate action. Participants will also include representatives from other international organizations and non-governmental groups. Participation in COFO is open to all FAO member countries.  

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CITES at 40 Marks a Major Decision Point for Sharks, Trees, Snakes, Turtles and other Wildlife Species: Guidelines, toolkits, standards and action plans fostering capacity, financing, law enforcement, livelihoods, science, sustainability, traceability and synergies also adopted

The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP16) held March 2013 in Bangkok, will be remembered as a defining moment in the 40 year history of the Convention.

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The first session of the high-level political forum (HLPF) on sustainable development is expected to take place on 24-26 September 2013. This will be the first formal meeting of the HLPF since a decision was taken to establish the forum at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or Rio+20) in June 2012. The HLPF aims to follow up on the implementation of sustainable development, and to build on the strengths, experiences, resources and inclusive participation modalities of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), and to replace the Commission.  

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29 April 2013: Held from 22-26 April 2013, in Geneva, Switzerland, the 24th session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) focused on improving a draft text of an international legal instrument on intellectual property and traditional knowledge.

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18 April 2013: The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), a collaborative effort by Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela to promote sustainable development, has been acknowledged at the tenth session of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF10).

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20 April 2013: The tenth session of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF10), which met from 8-19 April 2013, in Istanbul, Turkey, focused on the theme "Forests and Economic Development."

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21 April 2013: The eleventh session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 11) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) developed a report that contains a synopsis of parties' views and recommendations noted on the floor in plenary, and a background document summarizing deliberations and recommendations submitted to the CRIC for consideration at its next session.

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19 April 2013: The fourteenth session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA 14) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) was held from 15-19 April 2013, at FAO headquarters, in Rome, Italy, and marked the Commission's 30th anniversary.

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At the opening of the eleventh meeting of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 11), Deputy Minister for Environment and Tourism of Namibia, Pohamba Shifeta, announced that the Republic of Namibia has offered to host the eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The meeting is expected to take place from 16-27 September 2013.

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The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP16) held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 3-14 March 2013, took decisive action to tackle the disturbing spike in the illegal killing of the African elephant and rhino and smuggling of their ivory and horn, which is the focus of this article.

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