Distr.
LIMITED
FCCC/CP/1998/L.1/Rev.1
1 November 1998
ENGLISH ONLY
CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES
Fourth session
Buenos Aires, 2-13 November 1998
Item 2 (g) of the provisional agenda
1. At its eighth session, held in Bonn, 2-12 June 1998, the Subsidiary Body for Implementation requested the secretariat to prepare a draft decision on the modalities for participation of representatives of non-governmental organizations in contact groups (FCCC/SBI/1998/6, para. 83).
2. In response to that request, a draft decision was prepared for the consideration of the Parties (FCCC/CP/1998/L.1). This draft decision also addressed the participation of intergovernmental organizations in contact groups, as the two matters are closely related.
3. After consultations on this matter, the secretariat has prepared a revised version of the draft decision for the consideration of the Conference at the first plenary meeting of its fourth session.
EZE.98-039
The Conference of the Parties,
Having considered the conclusions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation at its eighth session on the involvement of non-governmental organizations in the Convention process,(1)
Affirming that negotiations under the Convention are a matter for the Parties,
Considering that arrangements for the attendance of observers at contact groups should also cover representatives of intergovernmental organizations,
Recalling Article 7, paragraph 6, of the Convention, and rules 6 and 7 of the draft rules of procedure being applied,(2)
1. Decides that the presiding officers of Convention bodies may invite representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to attend as observers any open-ended contact group established under the Convention process, unless at least one third of the Parties present at the session of the Convention body setting up that contact group object and on the understanding that the presiding officers of such contact groups may determine at any time during their proceedings that they should be closed to intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations;
2. Invites the presiding officers of Convention bodies, at the time of their
establishment of such a contact group, to ascertain if there are objections from Parties to
attendance by intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations at that contact group under the conditions set out in paragraph 1 above.