Hosted by China, representatives from governments of Contracting Parties will convene at COP14 to agree on a work programme, and budgetary arrangements for the next triennium and to provide guidance on a range of ongoing and emerging environmental issues.
For Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥, the time is critical to engage with the Convention given the dire state of loss in the ecosystems the Convention is designed to protect. We lose wetlands and peatlands three times faster than forests, yet these ecosystems are the world’s most efficient natural carbon stores, harbour diverse biodiversity and provide a range of ecosystem services.
Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ has an important role to play in raising attention to the need to accelerate the use of the Convention, in particular to improve the state of reporting, to mobilise the national and international support needed for sites under stress and to limit and remove sites on the Montreux Record, and to accelerate action on accreditation of wetland cities. There is also a need to help shape the Scientific and Technical Review Panel to ensure they develop a meaningful framework of work and indicators for improved reporting on wetland status.
As an International Organisation Partner (IOP) to the Ramsar Convention, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ has the opportunity to contribute at all levels to shaping the development and progress of the Convention together with its Contracting Parties and governing and expert bodies, including through technical advice and cooperation in demonstrating the implementation of wetland management.
The Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ delegation, led by the Director General, is engaging in the negotiations and hosting a number of side-events.