As agreed in a Letter of Intent between the OECS and the GIZ, the cooperation aims at:
- Creating awareness on issues of ABS at the level of governments and stakeholders in OECS Member States;
- Developing regional guidance on ABS policies and contracts; and
- Supporting OECS Member States in setting up effective and efficient national ASS frameworks within broader biodiversity management strategies, both regional and national.
Development of a regional ABS guidelines action plan
- Recommendations on policy options and guidelines for implementing the Nagoya Protocol, fostering marine and terrestrial research and development with Caribbean biological resources in-country and abroad, and ensuring non-monetary and monetary benefit-sharing
- Common (harmonized) templates providing elements and options for ABS permits and ABS contracts (for further development and adoption in the Member States)
- Common prototype for a single-window IT-based online ASS application, permitting and monitoring system (for further development and adoption in the Member States)
National implementation of the regional ABS framework I Guidelines I Action Plan
- Development of templates for ABS permits and ABS contracts for national adaptation
- ABS contract training
- Implementation of the single-window IT-based online ABS application, permitting and monitoring system
- Supporting indigenous peoples and local communities in effective participation in ABS decision making and negotiation processes
- Negotiation of ABS contracts
More about national ABS frameworks and other elements needed for successful ABS implementation here.
- 2015: Study on clauses in ABS permits and ABS contracts of CARICOM Member States
- Regional training on ABS contract negotiations, co-hosted by the CARICOM Secretariat and the Government of Suriname with participants from 13 CARICOM Member States
- 2015 - 2018: Member of the Steering Committee of the regional UNEP GEF ABS project “Advancing the Nagoya Protocol in countries of the Caribbean Region” executed by IUCN
- 2016: Supporting the Bahamas Environment, Science & Technology (BEST) Commission in setting up a national UNEP GEF ABS Project
- 2019: Supporting the Bahamas Environment, Science & Technology (BEST) Commission in convening the inception workshop of the national UNEP GEF ABS Project
- 2020: Regional workshop for OECS Member States on finalization of ABS Guidelines and discussion on a regional IT-based system for ABS applications, permitting and monitoring was cancelled due to Corona and replaced by virtual national workshops, preparing for a face-to-face meeting in early 2021
Major achievements
- Supporting the activities of the regional ABS UNEP GEF project
- Supporting the setup and launch of the ABS UNEP GEF project of The Bahamas