A/RES/63/219 United Nations Distr.: General 25 February 2009 General Assembly Sixty-third session Agenda item 49 (f) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 December 2008 [on the report of the Second Committee (A/63/414/Add.6)] 63/219. Convention on Biological Diversity The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 55/201 of 20 December 2000, 61/204 of 20 December 2006 and 62/194 of 19 December 2007 and other previous resolutions relating to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Recalling also its resolution 61/203 of 20 December 2006 on the International Year of Biodiversity, 2010, Reiterating that the Convention on Biological Diversity 1 is the key international instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, 0F Noting that one hundred and ninety States and one regional economic integration organization have ratified the Convention and that one hundred and forty-seven States and one regional economic integration organization have ratified the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2 1F Recalling the commitments of the World Summit on Sustainable Development to pursue a more efficient and coherent implementation of the three objectives of the Convention and the achievement by 2010 of a significant reduction in the current rate of loss of biological diversity, which will require action at all levels, including the implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans and the provision of new and additional financial and technical resources to developing countries, Deeply concerned by the continued loss of biological diversity and the associated decline in the ecosystem services of our planet and their far-reaching environmental, social, economic and cultural impacts, and acknowledging that an unprecedented effort is needed to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction in the rate of loss of biological diversity, Noting the need for enhanced cooperation among the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in _______________ 1 2 08-48393 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1760, No. 30619. Ibid., vol. 2226, No. 30619.