Rio Convention Pavilion: web of life at the Climate COP

Panel of speakers during the Ecosystem based Adaptation side event

Durban, South Africa, 2 December - Settled at the heart of the exotic beats of African drums and artistic climate change displays at the Climate Conference in South Africa, is the Rio Convention Pavilion, the hub for a range of interesting side events that are linked to the three Rio Conventions.

The Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate change and Desertification derived directly from the 1992 Earth Summit. It is at the Rio Conventions Pavilion that an exchange of lessons learnt from practises and scientific findings realised from the implementation of the three Conventions takes place.

“It’s a great initiative that has provided the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) with a platform to share experiences under the Rio Conventions with people from all corners of the globe at these Conferences of the Parties,” said Nanette Woonton, the Media and Public Relations Officer of SPREP.

The Rio Convention Pavilion was launched during the International Year of Biodiversity in 2010, the Rio Conventions Pavilion convened at the margins of the CBD Conference of the Parties (CBD COP10) in Nagoya, Japan for which materials from SPREP were exhibited.

At the UNFCCC COP 16 in Cancun Mexico the Pavilion was held in ‘virtual’ format for which SPREP staged a side event that displayed and shared climate change solutions in the Pacific region.

In 2011, SPREP is yet again working in partnership with the Rio Conventions Pavilion through attending and sharing Pacific perspectives during the 10th Conference of the Parities to the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP10) and again at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework to the Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 17).

The Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project is being showcased at the Rio Convention Pavilion by SPREP and partners, which is held at the Climate Change and Response Expo hosted by the South Africa Department of Environment Affairs.

The Pavilion is a collaborative effort between the Secretariat of the three Rio Conventions and the Global Environment Facility, in addition to a growing list of other global and local partners.

For a full list of events happening at the Rio Convention Pavilion at the UNFCCC COP17 this year, please visit: http://www.riopavilion.org/