COP9 Conference

The 9th Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) took place from 19 to 30 May 2008 in Bonn. The Convention was adopted in 1992 at the UN Summit on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. The Conference of the Parties is the supreme policy body of the Convention; it takes place every two years.

Around 5,000 delegates from the 190 member states were expected to participate. Germany chaired the conference as the delegates debate measures for protecting biodiversity. In addition to the conservation of biological diversity, they discussed the sustainable use of these resources and the issues of access and benefit-sharing.

The key themes addressed at COP9 were: forest conservation, the designation and financing of protected areas, conservation of plant and animal, genetic diversity in agriculture, the development of an access and benefit-sharing system, and the target of substantially reducing the loss of biodiversity worldwide by 2010. Bonn also hosted the 4th Meeting of the Parties (MOP4) to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety from 12 to 16 May 2008.