Malaysia To Host ACB 2020 In March

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- Approximately 500 participants are expected to take part in the third edition of the ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity (ACB 2020) from March 16 to 20 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC). Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said the participants would those from ASEAN member states and 20 megadiverse countries in South America and Africa that harbour more than 70 per cent of the global biodiversity. “ACB 2020 will primarily feature discussions on the development of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and progress made by the ASEAN member states (AMS) in achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets in particular Targets 11 on protected areas and Target 12 on species conservation. “It will also provide a platform for the exchange of experiences as well as to set ASEAN’s direction in biodiversity management towards 2050. “Other than that, the conference will also be a catalyst for the government’s efforts towards the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from the utilization of genetic resources,” he said in his opening speech during the soft launch of the ACB 2020, as well as its official logo and website, here Tuesday. Apart from that, Xavier said the ministry would also host High-Level Ministerial Meetings on Biodiversity (HLM) back to back with ACB 2020 involving Ministers and Senior Officials responsible for biodiversity management in ASEAN and megadiverse countries. He explained that the HLM meeting would play an important role in discussing inputs to strengthen Malaysia, ASEAN and megadiverse countries’ positions in the Global Biodiversity Framework which would become the framework for post-2020 biodiversity management. “It will also set the groundwork for the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in October 2020 in Kunming, China,” he said. -- BERNAMA