The Andhra Pradesh Capital would host the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity beginning today. The event would kickstart with meeting of the parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP MOP 6) followed by 11th meeting of the Conference of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 11) at the HITEX venue in the city. While COP MOP 6, a five-day meet will conclude on October 5, COP 11 will be held between October 8 and 19 and is expected to see participation of delegates and heads of some countries.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to inaugurate it. Around 2,000 delegates from more than 150 countries will participate in COP MOP 6, which will discuss and adopt further decisions to contribute to ensuring the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology. “Cities for Life” summit, a parallel programme during the summit, will bring together approximately 300 mayors, governors, high-ranking officials and their representative networks, as well as national governments, international organisations, UN agencies and specialists from across the world. Besides UN security, which already arrived in the city, the Andhra Pradesh police has made elaborate security arrangements to ensure that the 19-day-long international convention passes off peacefully. According to Cyberabad police, over 10,000 personnel of police would keep vigil at the bio-diversity meet. “To accomodate guests at hotels in Hyderabad, we have tied up with over 60 star and budget hotels,” Divya Sharma, project coordinator for CoP-11, MCI Management, the official agency to provide accommodation. UNI