(Agenda item 7)

Conclusions

At its 8th meeting, on 13 June, having considered a proposal by the Chair, the SBSTA adopted the following conclusions:

(a) The SBSTA, as agreed at its fifteenth session, considered further the Chair’s report on the workshop on "good practices" in policies and measures (FCCC/SBSTA/2001/INF.5). It also considered views submitted by Parties on possible further action to be undertaken in advancing the work on "good practices" in policies and measures (FCCC/SBSTA/2002/MISC.7);

(b) The SBSTA concluded that consideration of further action on this agenda item shall be based on the approaches outlined in decision 13/CP.7;

(c) The SBSTA concluded that, to consider further action, additional views from the Parties are needed on the initial results obtained from the activities undertaken on "good and best practices" in policies and measures of Annex I Parties in implementing the relevant elements of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action and decision 13/CP.7. This should include views on the following elements:

(i) Reports prepared by the secretariat on policies and measures of Annex I Parties, including compilation and synthesis reports on the national communications of Annex I Parties;

(ii) Content and scope of presentations at the workshops;

(iii) Activities undertaken as compared with the relevant decisions of the COP and conclusions of the SBSTA;

(iv) Means and tools to share information and experiences;

(d) The SBSTA requested the Chair of the SBSTA to organize intersessional consultations to exchange views on the issues identified in paragraph 45 (c) above back to back with the seventeenth session of the SBSTA. It also requested the Chair of the SBSTA to report on the results of this exchange of views at its seventeenth session;

(e) The SBSTA agreed on a frame for defining what further steps should be taken in advancing the work on "good practices" in policies and measures of Annex I Parties in implementing decision 13/CP.7. The frame consists of three elements:

(i) General information sharing;

(ii) Information sharing in specific areas encompassing all relevant sectors and cross-cutting and methodological issues;

(iii) Information from relevant international and intergovernmental organizations active in the area of policies and measures relevant to the Convention;

(f) General information sharing encompasses the ongoing work by the secretariat on compiling information on policies and measures of Annex I Parties reported by Annex I Parties in their third national communications, performed pursuant to the conclusion of the SBSTA at its fifteenth session (FCCC/SBSTA/2001/8, para. 35 (c)), and future work by the secretariat on the national communications following the third national communication. It also encompasses elaboration of innovative information-sharing tools such as web-based tools;

(g) The SBSTA invited the relevant international and intergovernmental organizations, including the IPCC, pursuant to decision 13/CP.7, to present a status report on their activities to the SBSTA at its seventeenth session and also to its subsequent sessions;

(h) The SBSTA invited Parties to submit, by 18 August 2002, their views on the elements identified in paragraphs 45 (c) and (e) above;

(i) The SBSTA agreed to consider, at its seventeenth session, the further steps to be taken in advancing the work on "good practices" in policies and measures of Annex I Parties in implementing decision 13/CP.7 in the frame for action referred to in paragraph 45 (e) above, considering the input from the exchange of views on the initial results, submissions by the Parties on the frame, and the information received from the relevant international and intergovernmental organizations.