The round table is a joint event of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and is being organized under the leadership of the Government of Austria. It comes at a time of growing public concern over issues related to loss of biodiversity and citizens' environmental rights, and it coincides with the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
The round table will bring together Government representatives, non-governmental organizations, academia and industry in order to address key challenges with respect to access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice regarding LMOs/GMOs. Participants will explore opportunities for cooperation and capacity-building and will share good practices and innovative tools that help address key challenges regarding implementation of the Aarhus Convention's Almaty Amendment on GMOs and the Lucca Guidelines on GMOs, and article 23 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
The outcomes of the event will be considered by the Aarhus Convention's Meeting of the Parties at its fifth session (Maastricht, the Netherlands, 30 June–2 July 2014) and by the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Pyeongchang, 29 September–3 October 2014), thereby guiding the future work on GMOs/LMOs under these treaties.
For more information, please visit: http://www.unece.org/gmo_2013.html
