• Titel: Statement by Gila Altmann, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety to the Meeting of the ad-hoc open-ended Working Group on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing B

• Untertitel: Sustainable Use of Genetic Resources - Partnership for the Conservation of Biological Diversity
• Redner/in: Parl. Staatssekretärin Simone Probst

Prof. Olembo, Representative of the Kenyan Environment Minister,
Executive Secretary Dr. Zedan,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Bonn for this ad-hoc open-ended working group on access and benefit sharing within the framework of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Theevents of the past few weeks have reminded us of the importance of global dialogue. I think the United Nations will play an increasing role in striving for the peaceful coexistence of all peoples onEarth.

The conservation and environmentally sound use of biological diversity is a focal point of the German government's policy. For this reason I am delighted that Germany is hosting this importantevent, held un the former seat of the German parliament and now Bonn's international congress centre.

The adoption of this Convention created an international instrument which goes way beyond classic nature and species protection and which can be seen as a starting point for a new global policy onconserving the biological diversity on our planet. This policy should provide us with a comprehensive understanding of biological diversity.

The Convention on Biological Diversity contains much more than pure conservation considerations and specifically incorporates man's use of biological diversity. Biological diversity should also beconserved by means of sustainable use, in other words use that preserves natural resources in their entire diversity for present and future generations.

Unfortunately, we cannot overlook the fact that despite the positive developments resulting from the CBD for individual environmental medias such as waters and air, there has not yet been any suchpositive developments in biological diversity.
Scientists have come to the conclusion that over the next 50 years, hundreds of thousands of species will become extinct on this planet.
Our "red list" shows the scope of threatened fauna and flora in Germany. 15% of biotopes in our country are "critically endangered", almost 33% are "endangered" and a further 20% "vulnerable".

The biggest threat to biological diversity today is the rapid process of conversion and destruction of natural habitats. In Germany alone around 129 hectares - that means around 170 soccer grounds- of natural areas are lost to road and building construction every day. Or to put it another way: over the last ten years an area five times the size of Berlin has been "consumed" in Germany by theconstruction of houses, factories and traffic routes. And this process is speeding up.
For this reason, the German government introduced a comprehensive draft amendment to the German Federal Nature Conservation Act this summer. The purpose of this amendment is to create the necessarynature conservation provisions to safeguard biological diversity at a time when natural areas are under threat from industry, settlements and agriculture.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Let me move from the in-situ conservation of biodiversity in Germany to a more global picture.

This conference addresses one of the most complex, yet one of the most interesting topics relating to the CBD. The CBD takes into account the fact that it is not only plants and animals and theirproducts that are useful in an economic and scientific light, but also the genetic information of specific individuals. This Convention considers for the first time the genetic components of livingbeings as raw materials or resources that can be traded internationally, and standardises trade in its provisions.

As economic benefits are also linked to use, the Convention calls for the equitable sharing of profits and other benefits from this use of genetic resources between the countries of origin and theusers. This is based on the idea that in this way countries that are rich in biodiversity can obtain funds that can be invested in urgently needed measures for the conservation of biologicaldiversity and the promotion of sustainable forms of use.

It must be clear: as developing countries have a large share of biological diversity to offer and the users are primarily in the industrialised countries, these countries as consumers also have aduty to accept their responsibility vis-à-vis the developing countries when it comes to protecting and conserving biological diversity. However, equitable benefit sharing is not merely aquestion of financial participation. Our goal must be real cooperation between the provider and user countries in the field of research and development. A further essential aspect is to supportcapacity building for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, including the regulation of access to genetic resources and benefit sharing. Although the topic "access and benefitsharing" appears rather specific, it can make a contribution to global equity. Equity - between mankind and nature, between generations, between all peoples and between all nations is the onlysolution to overcoming the hopelessness and despair that breeds crises and wars, violence and terror. Global equity is also a matter of security and peace.

The CBD also makes specific reference to the rights of indigenous groups and local communities in connection with their traditional knowledge and the related genetic resources. The participationof these stakeholders - who addressed the issue access and benefit sharing here in Bonn last week - is crucial. With this in mind I would like to extend a special welcome to the representatives ofindigenous groups here today.

For this reason I am also very pleased that representatives of both environmental and development NGOs and of industrial associations are here today. I feel that all of you play an important rolein the process of developing and stabilizing the global civil society and therefore have to be an integrated part of international meetings and procedures with economic, development and tradedimensions.
Welcome to you all.

Ladies and gentleman, As with all CBD issues, a contribution to the conservation of global biological diversity must be at the forefront when we discuss the regulation of access and benefitsharing. The goal here must also be to steer the use of genetic resources towards sustainability, in a direction that is economically and socially viable in the long term, and most importantly, thatis environmentally sound.
I completely understand the legitimate interests of countries rich in biodiversity, as well as the interests of the indigenous communities that contribute to conserving biological diversity withtheir traditional knowledge, as well as the interests of the research sector and industry in as free an access as possible to genetic resources,. But I hope that this issue of access to geneticresources is not discussed as a separate topic to the actual goal of the Convention, namely conserving global biological diversity. This is also a matter of equity between mankind and nature. I verymuch hope that you will succeed this week in creating incentives for conserving global biological diversity in the context of access and benefit sharing.

A number of countries and regional coalitions have already started the concrete implementation of the very fundamental and general ABS provisions of the CBD, either with legal, administrative orother regulations. There are numerous examples to illustrate that access and benefit sharing can work on the basis of private-law contracts. Individual sectors, companies, research institutes andother stakeholders have tried to make the situation more comprehensible with specific guidelines or codes of conduct. Nevertheless, for many interested parties there is still a great deal ofuncertainty as far as the legal situation and procedural matters are concerned. The result is stagnation in the demand for genetic resources. This is surely not in the interests of either the user orthe provider.

For this reason, I would like to encourage you to look for pragmatic solutions that are flexible, create transparency and prevent superfluous administration. This is the only way to work out aframework for a real partnership between the users from the industrial and research sectors, and the countries or stakeholders providing genetic resources. In this way, benefit sharing as the thirdpillar of the CBD can be given a stable foundation. If you succeed in drawing up preliminary draft guidelines at the end of this week we will already be a significant step closer to our goal.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We have an extremely busy week ahead of us! I wish this Conference every success and wish you all a pleasant stay in the UN city of Bonn.