RECALLING that the financial amendment to the Convention, adopted in Bonn in 1979, entered into force on 13 April 1987;
ALSO RECALLING Resolution Conf. 17.2 on Financing and the costed programme of work for the Secretariat for the triennium 2017-2019 adopted at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (Johannesburg, 2016);
HAVING NOTED the 2017-2018 actual expenditures incurred by the Secretariat (document CoP18 Doc. 7.3);
HAVING REVIEWED the proposed costed programme of work for the triennium 2020-2022, submitted by the Secretariat (document CoP18 Doc. 7.4);
ACKNOWLEDGING the Memorandum of Understanding between the Standing Committee of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) concerning Secretariat Services to and Support of the Convention, effective 1 September 2011;
NOTING the increase in the number of Parties to the Convention and species listed in its Appendices, as well as the growing level of interest in the Convention and FURTHER NOTING the need for greater assistance to the Parties to achieve more effective implementation, the necessity to provide adequately for implementation of all Decisions and Resolutions of the Conference of the Parties as well as the CITESStrategic Vision: 2008-2020 as revised at the 18th meeting, and the resulting increasing expenditure incurred by and pressures placed on the Secretariat;
RECALLING paragraph 203 of the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (also known as Rio+ 20) entitled The future we want, highlighting the importance of CITES;
FURTHER RECALLING resolution 69/314 adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tackling Illicit trafficking in wildlife recognizing the legal framework provided by and the important role of CITES as well as resolution 68/205, on World Wildlife Day, in which the UNGA proclaimed 3 March, the day of the adoption of CITES, as World Wildlife Day, and designated the CITES Secretariat as the facilitator for the global observance of this special day for wildlife on the UN calendar;
RECOGNIZING the value of and expressed need for enhanced financing for CITES implementation to assist Parties in more effectively meeting the objectives of the Convention;
REITERATING the CITES Strategic Vision and stressing the importance of full and effective implementation of CITES as a means of strengthening the Convention’s contribution towards achieving the relevant Aichi Biodiversity Targets and any relevant goals and targets that are agreed as part of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework;
FURTHER RECOGNIZING the contribution that the full and effective implementation of CITES can make towards achieving relevant Goals and Targets adopted by the UN General Assembly through the Sustainable Development Goals;
NOTING that Decisions of the Parties directed to the Secretariat have an impact on the operation and expenditures incurred by the Secretariat;
WELCOMING the adoption by the UN Environment Assembly of resolution 2/18 on relationship between the UNEP and the Multilateral Environmental Agreements for which it provides Secretariat;
TAKING NOTE of General Assembly resolution 60/283, on Investing in the United Nations for a stronger organization worldwide, by which the Assembly approved the adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) by the United Nations; and
RECOGNIZING that the International Public Sector Accounting Standards require that full provision be made for doubtful debt in respect of debt for which there is more than four years of non-payment of contributions and that proportionate provision be made for recent non-payment of contributions and that, as a result, an amount, estimated at USD 385,761, will have to be deducted from the end 2018 fund balance of the Convention to cover doubtful debt and cannot be used for the benefit of all Parties during the triennium 2020-2022;
1.EXPRESSES its appreciation to the Government of Switzerland as the Host Country for its support to the Secretariat, and NOTES its response to the invitation extended to it through Resolution Conf. 17.2 by providing enhanced support to the CITES Secretariat;
2.ACCEPTS and APPROVES the report of expenditures against the costed programme of work for the years 2016 and 2017, as endorsed by the Standing Committee at its 69th and 70th meetings in Geneva, November 2017 and Sochi, October 2018 respectively;
3.ACCEPTS and APPROVES the report of expenditures against the costed programme of work for the year 2018;
4.APPROVES on exceptional basis to use USD 152,000 from the Trust Fund (CTL) accumulated surplus (fund balance) for the year 2019 to contribute to the shortfall for the organization of the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
5.REQUESTS the Secretariat to liaise with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in order for UNEP to provide to the Standing Committee at its 73rd meeting the cost allocation of the share of the Programme Support Costs and information on the common services breakdown, recalling the Memorandum of Understanding between the Standing Committee and the Executive Director of UNEP concerning the provision of Secretariat services to the Convention;
6.REQUESTS the Secretariat to continue to use the new format of the costed programme of work and the budgetary presentations for the triennium 2020-2022, as introduced by the Secretariat and endorsed by the Standing Committee, on the recommendation of its Finance and Budget Subcommittee, at its 62nd meeting, and to make any necessary adjustments, as needed, in line with the implementation of Umoja;
7.NOTES with appreciation the three budget proposals submitted by the Secretariat for the triennium 2020‑2022 budget period and REQUESTS the Secretary-General to prepare budget proposals in the same format for consideration of the Conference of the Parties at its 19th meeting, including, as a minimum, a zero nominal growth budget scenario and a zero real growth budget scenario and, in consultation with the Standing Committee, if necessary, a third scenario;
8.REQUESTS the Executive Director of UNEP, in consultation with the Standing Committee, to increase financial transparency by providing the following supplementary financial information in all future financial statements and budget requests:
a)categorization of income utilizing the following categories: Regular Resources, Other Resources and Cost Recovery in the Trust Fund budget (CTL);
b)to the greatest extent possible, the harmonized format, methodology, and terminology adopted by the UN Funds and Programmes; and
9.REQUESTS the Secretariat, as a means to further enhance efforts to foster transparency and accountability,
a)to identify, realize and report on cost savings from efficiency measures implemented by the Secretariat and provide indicative projections on potential efficiency gains for the next triennium; and
b)to establish a section on the website of the Secretariat to publish or provide links to up-to-date information relevant to the governance of the Convention, including, inter alia, completed and accepted audit reports, applicable financial rules and regulations, and any other relevant budgetary and financial information;
10.DECIDES that the implementation of the costed programme of work for the triennium 2020-2022, Annex 1, shall be covered by the Trust Fund budget (CTL), Annexes 2 and 3, in the amounts of USD 5,907,043 for 2020, USD 6,080,945 for 2021 and USD 6,697,571 for 2022 and by the Support to CITES Activities Trust Fund (QTL), Annex 3, and ADOPTS the scale of contributions for 2020-2022 as contained in Annex 5;
11.AGREES to establish two temporary positions for the period 2020-2022 – one Programme Management Officer (Marine Species), P-2 and one Research Assistant, (GS) funded through the Trust Fund (CTL) accumulated surplus (fund balance) and to be further reviewed at the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
12.REQUESTS the Secretariat to carefully monitor exchange rate fluctuations and adjust levels of expenditure, where necessary; and DECIDES that the Secretariat, as a last resort, can request the Standing Committee to draw down from the Trust Fund Balance on an exceptional basis;
13.REQUESTS the Secretariat to maintain a working capital cash reserve of 15 % of the average annual budget to ensure financial liquidity and AUTHORIZES the Secretariat, with the approval of the Standing Committee, to draw additional funds from the CITES Trust Fund balance at the end of each year, including funds to cover any shortfall should the UN standard salary costs used to develop the budgets for 2020-2022 prove to be underestimated, provided that it is not reduced below the working capital reserve specified above;
14.TAKES NOTE of the funding estimates of the Trust Fund on Support to CITES Activities (QTL) for the 2020-2022 budget period and URGES the Secretariat, where activities that are to be externally funded are concerned, to seek funds, preferably non-earmarked, for the implementation of activities identified in the costed programme of work;
15.ENCOURAGES the Secretariat to increase its efforts to strengthen its capacity building activities, including by conducting at least one training workshop for CITES Management Authorities/Scientific Authorities and Enforcement entities per region, upon request, between the meetings of the Conference of the Parties, intersessionally, depending on availability of resources;
16.APPROVES the Terms of Reference for the Administration of the Trust Fund, in Annex 6, for the budget period beginning on 1 January 2020 and ending on 31 December 2022;
17.INSTRUCTS the Standing Committee to continue to review the Terms of Reference for the Administration of the Trust Fund and make proposals for consideration at the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties for any necessary changes;
a)contributions to the Trust Fund (CTL) are based on the most recent United Nations scale of assessment1, as amended periodically and adjusted to take account of the fact that not all members of the United Nations are party to the Convention;
b)any other basis of calculation of contributions shall not be used without the consent of all Parties present and voting at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties; and
c)any change in the basic scale of contributions that would increase the expected contribution of a Party does not apply to that Party without its consent, and that any proposal to change the basic scale of contributions from that currently in use shall only be considered by the Conference of the Parties if notice of such proposal has been communicated by the Secretariat to all Parties at least 150 days before the meeting;
19.EXPECTS Parties to pay their contributions to the Trust Fund (CTL) in a timely manner and in accordance with the basic scale and ENCOURAGES them to make special contributions to the Trust Funds above their regular contributions whenever possible;
20.REQUESTS all Parties to pay their contributions as far as possible during the year prior to the one to which they relate or, otherwise, promptly by the beginning of the calendar year (1 January to 31 December) to which the contributions apply;
21.NOTES with deep concern that a number of Parties have pending contributions to the Trust Fund (CTL), thus affecting adversely the implementation of the Convention;
22.REQUESTS the Secretariat to continue to monitor Parties that have pending contributions to the Convention by:
b)initiating talks with the permanent missions in Geneva of the Parties with pending contributions for three or more years;
23.URGES all Parties with pending contributions to cooperate with the Secretariat in arranging for the payment of their outstanding contributions without delay;
24.INVITES States not party to the Convention, other governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, and other sources to contribute to the Trust Fund in Support of CITES Activities (QTL);
25.DECIDES that the standard participation charge for all observer organizations other than the United Nations and its specialized agencies at meetings of the Conference of the Parties shall be set at a minimum of USD 600 for the first delegate and USD 300 for any additional delegate and that a standard charge is set at USD 100 for international visitors attending such meetings not applicable to host country visitors (except as otherwise decided by the Secretariat as required and following consultation with the Finance and Budget Subcommittee) unless a new standard charged has been determined for the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties by the Standing Committee at its 73rd meeting, and URGES such organizations to make a greater contribution, if possible, at least to meet their effective costs of participation;
26.FURTHER DECIDES that the standard participation charge for all observer organizations other than the United Nations and its specialized agencies at meetings of the Standing Committee and the Animals and Plants Committees shall be set at a minimum of USD 100 for each observer participant (except as otherwise decided by the Secretariat as required and following consultation with the Finance and Budget Subcommittee);
a)all meetings of the Conference of the Parties and all regular meetings of the Standing Committee, the Animals Committee and the Plants Committee should be held in the Host country of the Secretariat unless a candidate host country pays the difference in costs between its proposed venue and the Host country; and
b)candidate host country is to sign the Host Country Agreement no later than six months after the decision is made by the Conference of the Parties or 60 days after the decision is made by the Committees to hold the meeting outside the host country of the Secretariat; and
c)no more than two regular meetings each of the Standing Committee, and the Animals and Plants Committees should be convened between regular meetings of the Conference of the Parties;
28.DIRECTS the Secretariat to make provision for the payment, if requested, of reasonable and justifiable travel expenses of members, including attendance at the relevant committee meetings, and other expenses of the Chairs of the Standing Committee, the Animals Committee and the Plants Committee, other than members from developed countries;
29.INSTRUCTS the Standing Committee to keep under review the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the CITES Standing Committee and the Executive Director of UNEP concerning Secretariat Services to and Support of the Convention;
a)to make provisions for all the costs the Secretariat incurs, including costs associated with the hiring of temporary staff and consultants, when seeking funds for the implementation of externally funded projects;
c)in consultation with proponent Parties, when necessary, to advise the Conference of the Parties on proposals with budgetary implications, including staff costs; and
d)in consultation with the Chairs of the Animals and Plants Committees, to assign scientific consultants and define terms of reference for specific science-based projects. Such a process should be implemented in a fashion that would not have a negative impact on the budget, but rather effectively utilize the scientific expertise of the Parties which is available to the Secretariat via the Chairs of the technical committees;
31.ENCOURAGES the Secretary-General, in line with UN rules, to use opportunities provided by any upcoming vacancies to explore ways to strengthen the capacity of the Secretariat within its assigned budget, including through structural change and report to the next meeting of the Standing Committee on any change implemented;
32.WELCOMES the efforts of the CITES Secretariat to facilitate access to Global Environment Facility (GEF) funding for GEF-eligible projects relevant for CITES, including species-based projects, and INVITES the Secretariat to continue to closely collaborate with the GEF Secretariat, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Biodiversity Liaison Group on the issue of gaining access to GEF funding for GEF-eligible projects relevant for CITES;
33.ENCOURAGES Parties, in the revision of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans, to integrate CITES objectives and priorities in order to facilitate identification of opportunities for GEF-eligible projects relevant for CITES, including species-based projects;
34.INVITES the GEF Council to note relevant Resolutions and Decisions of the Conference of the Parties to CITES in the development of the next GEF Biodiversity Strategy consistent with the GEF’s mandate and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and any relevant goals and targets that are agreed as part of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework;
35.DECIDES to convey to the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD CoP) the CITES objectives and priorities in support of the Aichi Targets and INVITES the CBD CoP to take these into account in providing the broad strategic guidance to the GEF;
36.Within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and any relevant goals and targets that are agreed as part of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, CALLS upon Parties, established financing mechanisms, donors, international organizations, academia, non-governmental organizations and other relevant stakeholders to provide adequate and timely support for the relevant CITES objectives and priorities;
a)the Secretary-General shall have the authority to make staffing decisions as necessary to implement the priorities of the Parties in accordance with the costed programme of work, provided they are within the overall budget and taken in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between the CITES Standing Committee and the Executive Director of UNEP concerning Secretariat Services to and Support of the Convention;
b)any change in the costed programme of work of the Secretariat deriving from a new Resolution or Decision shall be made only if the source of the necessary additional funds has been identified or if that programme is reprioritized at the time such a Resolution or Decision is adopted by the Conference of the Parties; and
c)the Secretariat, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, shall continue to explore a closer working relationship with the GEF to address CITES priorities within the context of its Biodiversity Strategy, and consistent with CITES’ and the GEF’s mandates;
38.REQUESTS the Executive Director of UNEP, in accordance with the existing Memorandum of Understanding, to have a comprehensive audit undertaken during the triennium 2020-2022 and thereafter on a regular basis by the Office of Internal Oversight Services and to ask for reports on UNEP from the United Nations Board of Auditors on CITES performance, and to have the reports submitted as part of the documentation for the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties, together with the management response; and
39.REPEALS Resolution Conf. 17.2 (Johannesburg, 2016) – Financing and the costed programme of work for the Secretariat for the triennium 2017-2019, which, however, remains on the record as an indication of the expected levels of annual contributions for Parties that have not paid these amounts.