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Recalling the consolidated modus operandi of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice contained in annex III to decision VIII/10 and, in particular, paragraph 4, which states that the Subsidiary Body shall endeavour to constantly improve the quality of its scientific, technical and technological advice by improving scientific, technical and technological input into, debate at, and work of, meetings of the Subsidiary Body,
Bearing in mind the adoption, at its tenth meeting, of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011‑2020 and the multi-year programme of work of the Conference of the Parties for the period 2011-2020 and noting other global developments in the field of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, including ecosystem services,
Noting that an intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services could be responsive to the needs of the Convention, thereby strengthening the Subsidiary Body on Technical and Technological Advice,
1.Requests the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice to take into account the need to focus its work, in particular, on the scientific and technical aspects of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the multi-year programme of work, under the authority of and in accordance with the guidance laid down by the Conference of the Parties, upon its request;
2.Also requests the Executive Secretary, in collaboration with relevant partners, subject to availability of funds, and where possible in conjunction with other events, to organize training workshops for national focal points for the Subsidiary Body based on an assessment of their training needs, so as to assist Parties in implementing the three objectives of the Convention;
3.Invites Parties and other Governments to encourage and support members of the Bureau of the Subsidiary Body and the national focal points to organize and coordinate online consultations to facilitate regional consultation on matters to be discussed at upcoming meetings of the Subsidiary Body;
4.Further requests the Executive Secretary in collaboration with the members of the Bureau of the Subsidiary Body, to prepare a reference manual to serve as guidance for national focal points of the Subsidiary Body, Bureau members, and delegates, and including a compilation of existing documents, inter alia an updated modus operandi (including the procedure for the identification of new and emerging issues1), functions of the national focal points and Bureau members, peer-review process for preparation of working documents, process of meetings and products, etc., and to make it available through the clearing-house mechanism and through the focal points for the Convention, to be regularly updated;
5.Encourages the Bureau of the Subsidiary Body, subject to the availability of funds, to convene joint meetings with the bureaus of the subsidiary bodies of the Rio conventions as well as with relevant biodiversity‑related conventions meetings to promote synergies and collaboration as per the relevant decisions of the Rio conventions;2
6.Recalling paragraph 5 of decision IX/29, requests the Executive Secretary to streamline the texts of suggested draft recommendations for submission to the Subsidiary Body and encourages Parties to make these recommendations as short as possible so that the actions required are clear;
7.Requests the Executive Secretary, subject to the availability of funds, to make available documents, such as Technical Series, newsletters and other information documents of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and where possible, to make available executive summaries for information documents introduced under items on the agenda for meetings of the Subsidiary Body, as early as possible, in all United Nations languages, in order to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge as well as ensure a more comprehensive scientific review of these technical documents.