A/RES/61/204 Taking note of the reports of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 3 Expressing its deep appreciation to the Government of Brazil for hosting the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, held in Curitiba from 20 to 31 March, and from 13 to 17 March 2006, respectively, Expressing its deep appreciation also to the Government of Germany for its offer to host the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in 2008, Takes note of the report of the Executive Secretary of the Convention on 1. Biological Diversity, transmitted by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly at its sixty-first session; 4 2. Notes the outcome of the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity; 5 3. Notes also the outcome of the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety; 6 4. Notes further the progress made with respect to the achievement of the three objectives set out in the Convention on Biological Diversity;2 5. Urges all Member States to fulfil their commitments to significantly reduce the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010, and emphasizes that this will require an appropriate focus on the loss of biodiversity in their relevant policies and programmes and the continued provision of new and additional financial and technical resources to developing countries, including through the Global Environment Facility; Reiterates the commitment of States parties to the Convention on 6. Biological Diversity and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety 7 to support the implementation of the Convention and the Protocol, as well as other biodiversityrelated agreements and the Johannesburg commitment to a significant reduction in the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010, and to continue to negotiate within the framework of the Convention, bearing in mind the Bonn Guidelines, 8 an international regime to promote and safeguard the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, and urges all States to commit to significantly reducing the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010 and to continue ongoing efforts to elaborate and negotiate an international regime on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing; Notes the progress made in the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on 7. Access and Benefit-sharing towards elaborating and negotiating the international _______________ 3 Available from http://millenniumassessment.org. A/61/225, sect. III. 5 UNEP/CBD/COP/8/31. 6 UNEP/CBD/BS/COP-MOP/3/15. 7 See UNEP/CBD/ExCOP/1/3 and Corr.1, part two, annex. 8 UNEP/CBD/COP/6/20, annex I, decision VI/24A. 4 2