Eighth meeting of the Ad-Hoc Open-ended Intersessional Working Group on Article 8(j) (traditional knowledge) and Related Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Seventeenth meeting of the CBD Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA)

On Friday, plenary convened in the morning and adopted all recommendations and the meeting report. Several delegations welcomed the adoption of the draft plan of action on customary sustainable use, and praised the Working Group for its unique openness to participation by indigenous and local communities in the deliberations.

Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, CBD Executive Secretary, singled out as accomplishments of the meeting: the draft plan of action on customary sustainable use; agreement on the way forward on tasks 7, 10 and 12, which will complement work under the Nagoya Protocol and other international agreements by fleshing out free prior informed consent and benefit-sharing for traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources; and progress on repatriation of traditional knowledge, which is a challenging area of work where the CBD can make a difference. Co-Chair Pande congratulated delegates for their constructive debates and drew the meeting to a close at 11:50am.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin summary and analysis of the Working Group on Article 8(j) will be available on Monday, 21 October 2013, along with the summary of SBSTTA-17, online at: http://enb.iisd.org/biodiv/sbstta17/.