Kyoto Journal contributor W. David Kubiak says…
I imagine many of you have already heard, but COP10 managed a partial birth at 1:30 AM last night (Friday). Short of perfection no doubt, but the oceans were big winners with a new protected zone target of 10% and traditional knowledge getting formal recognition and a promise of biopiracy compensatory rights… …the fact this didn’t turn into COP10enhagen as many had feared is a major relief, and something to build upon for everyone. Congrats to the KJ crew for furnishing the most appreciated and talked about handout at this fest.
And John Einarsen (of whom there was a very nice profile in the Japan Times the other day) adds…
Dear KJ Biodiversity Contributors:
Congratulations to all of you! At 1:30 this morning, October 30th, some 190 governments proved they can work together on tough issues and succeed by agreeing upon a much-needed plan for the preservation of the biodiversity of our planet.
We wish to sincerely thank you for your creative participation in Kyoto Journal’s special issue on biodiversity, which we hope contributed to the positive outcome of the conference. Over a period of two weeks, twelve KJ volunteers, at their own expense and time, traveled to Nagoya and handed out some 800 issues of our KJ issue 75 to delegates, media participants and NGOs at the conference site.
Issues also were hand-delivered to Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity; Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Matsumoto Ryu, Minister of the Environment of Japan; and even film actor Harrison Ford, long-serving Vice Chairman of Conservation International. The issue was extremely well received and stood out among all of the other print media present.
For more information on the historic conference agreement, please read Winifred Bird’s excellent summation at Earth Island Journal.
To follow the the ups and downs of the conference we recommend articles by Japan Time journalists Eric Johnston and Setsuko Kamiya:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/cop10.html
http://blog.japantimes.co.jp/cop10/
Again, we wish to thank you for sending us your inspiring ideas and voices. They helped make a difference!
W. David Kubiak has also sent on the following links:
NYT’s COP10 summary at this link.
A nice interview with Harrison Ford by CNN on the COP, conservation, Conservation International, and the need for ratification, as well has his minor side career in film (video version).
Also, Conservation International’s press release on Harrison’s call for CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) progress, with a good ratification plug at end.
Previously:
Kyoto Journal #75: “Biodiversity” – Essential Reading for COP10
The People I Met at COP10