B. Finland

Abstract

During the year 2010, Finland focused intensely on policies related to biological diversity, the theme for the year declared by the United Nations. The world community had committed to the Biodiversity Target set out in the biodiversity regime (and endorsed by the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and later by the UN General Assembly), which was to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional, and national levels as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth. Even though only modest progress was made towards this target, the tenth Conference of the Parties (COP-10), which was held in Nagoya, Japan, on 18-29 October, gave an extra impetus to the focus on biodiversity. Even though the Biodiversity Target was not achieved, COP-10 was able—after more than six years of negotiations—to adopt the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization. The agreement opens the way for countries that use genetic resources and those that provide such resources to enter into contracts based on prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms that contribute to economic development as well as to the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of its components.