Synergies among the Sister Conventions
The secretariats of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) established a Joint Liaison Group (JLG) in August 2001 in order to enhance coordination among the three conventions, and to explore options of further cooperation, including the possibility of a joint work plan. The JLG aims to collect and share information on the work programmes and operations of each convention. Furthermore, its goal is to harness collaboration among the three secretariats and to review progress in the preparations for the joint workshop on synergy approaches.
The first meeting of the JLG took place in Washington DC, the United States of America, on 6 December 2001. Since then, it met nine times. The participants include the executive secretaries of the three conventions, officers of the subsidiary bodies and members of the secretariats. The purpose of the group is to exchange information from recent meetings of the three conventions, to share information on plans for the forthcoming years and to explore opportunities to enhance cohesion and synergies among the three secretariats and their respective subsidiary bodies. The responsibility for organizing and chairing subsequent meetings rotates among the secretariats.