Conserving biodiversity: Switzerland signs two international agreements

Berne, 12.05.2011 - Ambassador Franz Perrez signed the Nagoya Protocol on behalf of Switzerland on 11 May 2011 in New York. The agreement, which was negotiated within the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity, regulates the use of genetic resources, including access to them and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation. In accordance with the mandate issued by the Federal Council, Switzerland also signed a supplementary protocol governing the liability for damage caused to biodiversity. The two agreements must now be ratified by the Swiss parliament.

Together with the climate, the conservation of biodiversity, that is the conservation of genetic resources, species and ecosystems, is one of the major challenges facing international environmental policy. The "Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization" aims to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources.

The Protocol ensures that countries that provide genetic resources participate in the benefits arising from their utilisation. It also facilitates companies and research institutes in third-party countries in accessing the genetic resources of plants, animals and other organisms. As noted by Swiss Ambassador Franz Perrez in New York: "The Nagoya Protocol is a key component of an effective and equitable international regime for the protection of biodiversity."

Switzerland also signed "The Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress" on 11 May in New York. This supplementary protocol to the Cartagena Protocol on the prevention of biotechnological risks regulates issues concerning liability and redress in the case of damage caused to biodiversity by genetically modified organisms. Its provisions comply with the Swiss legislation in force.

The implications of these protocols for Switzerland will be detailed in the dispatches on their ratification to be submitted to the Swiss parliament.


Address for enquiries

Ambassador Franz Perrez, Head of the International Affairs Division, FOEN, Tel.: +41 (0)79 251 90 15 (12 May 2011, from 2 to 5 p.m. Swiss time)
Media Section, FOEN, Tel.: + 41 (0)31 322 90 00



Publisher

The Federal Council
https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html

General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications; General Secretariat DETEC
https://www.uvek.admin.ch/uvek/en/home.html

Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
https://www.bafu.admin.ch/en

https://www.admin.ch/content/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-39115.html