European preparation for COP6 in April in the Netherlands

Release date	23/02/2002
Contributor	pinborg
Concerned URL	http://www.strategyguide.org
Source	Press release from Hungarian Ministry of the Environment, UNEP and Council of Europe

Budapest, Tilburg, 20 February 2002 Representatives of more than 45 European countries and key actors involved in European biodiversity policy will meet at the 2nd Intergovernmental Conference 'Biodiversity in Europe' to be held on 24-28 February 2002 in Budapest, Hungary. It is expected that the Conference will result in agreement on various issues relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in Europe and worldwide. The Conference focuses on the European regional preparations of the 6th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). High level speakers addressing the conference in the opening session include: Mr. Béla Turi Kovács, Minister of Environment, Hungary; Mrs. Geke Faber, State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries, the Netherlands; Mr. Hamdallah Zedan, Executive Secretary of CBD; Mr. Vladimirs Makarovs, Minister of Environment, Latvia; Ms. Carmen Martorell, General Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Spain; Mr. László Miklós, Minister of Environment of the Slovak Republic; Mr. S. Kurykin, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Ukraine; Mr. André Stoylen, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Environment, Norway; Sir Brian Unwin, President of ECNC/Former President of the European Investment Bank; Ambassador Beat Nobs, Head of Unit, Swiss Agency of Forests, Environment and Landscape; Mr. Piotr Gorbunenko, Biodiversity Issue Group Coordinator, European ECO-Forum; Mr. Werner Wutscher, Secretary General, Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Austria; Dr. János Tardy, Deputy Secretary of State, Ministry for Environment, Hungary; and Mr. Domingo Jimenez-Beltran, Executive Director, European Environment Agency. The conference will be convened under the overall umbrella of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS) with a Secretariat provided by the Joint Secretariat of PEBLDS, of UNEP and the Council of Europe, together with the organiser, the Government of Hungary. The Conference will discuss five priority issues of European importance to the Convention on Biological Diversity and will bring a concerted message to the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in April 2002, The Netherlands. The subjects are: Forest Biological Diversity, Alien Species, Financing Biodiversity, Strategic Plan for the Convention on Biological Diversity, Indicators & Monitoring and the Clearing House Mechanism. Apart from Plenary sessions and a regular PEBLDS Council meeting, the Conference will offer a venue for meetings of the Committee on Activities of the Council of Europe in the field of Biological and Landscape Diversity (CO-DBP), the Sofia Biodiversity Initiative and sub-regional groups. The Hungarian Ministry will organise a press conference on 25 February 2002, Monday starting after the Opening Plenary session at 13.00 also in Hotel Hyatt. All key note speakers have been invited to be present at the press conference.