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Acting within the Canadian delegation at the 9th Conference of Parties on the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Bonn from May 19th to the 30th, Mr. Gerry Sklavounos, M.N.A. for Laurier-Dorion and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, reiterated Québec's commitment to biological diversity. While speaking at the high level segment of the conference, Mr. Sklavounos noted the important role played by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biodiversity in Montréal, particularly in inciting Québec and its government to remain vigilant and to consistently strive to better itself in this domain.
Mr. Sklavounos made mention of Québec's achievements over the past years and confirmed its interest in following the work done on Access and Benefit-Sharing of genetic resources, commonly known as ABS. “We hope that the decisions made here in Bonn will permit us to conclude, by 2010, the discussions with respect to the content of an international ABS agreement, one of the main objectives of this Convention” declared
Mr. Sklavounos upon ending the conference.
The Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Ms. Line Beauchamp, was pleased with Québec's participation in Bonn, particularly in a year that will see the announcement of Québec's third strategy on Biological diversity, thus placing Québec at the forefront of the international community. “As in other matters regarding the environment, Québec is displaying leadership in the area of biodiversity and that is something we should all be proud of”, added Ms. Beauchamp.
Over 190 countries were represented at the 9th Conference of Parties on Biological Diversity. Gerry Sklavounos is the first Québec elected official to address the United Nation’s Conference on Biological Diversity.
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