The Conference of the Parties
1. Welcomes the progress made in the implementation of the Programme of Work of the Carpathian Convention and reiterates the need to implement all the articles of the Carpathian Convention and its Protocols in a balanced way;
2. Recognizing the impact of the COVID – 19 pandemic on the implementation of the Programme of Work of the Carpathian Convention, appreciates the smooth transition to the virtual mode of working undergone by the Secretariat, especially in organization of relevant meetings and consultation including the 6th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Carpathian Convention, in this respect adopts the Operating Procedures for the Virtual Meetings that should be considered as the supplementing document to the Rules of Procedures for the Conference of the Parties to the Carpathian Convention;
3. Takes note of the efforts made towards elaborating a comprehensive reporting system on the implementation of the Carpathian Convention and all its Protocols, especially the efforts of the Secretariat to prepare draft guidelines and a reporting template, and to include the reporting of the Carpathian Convention under the global Data Reporting Tool for Multilateral Environmental Agreements (DaRT), currently under development by UNEP;
4. Encourages the Parties to make use of the Data Reporting Tool, as appropriate, and in this respect, requests the Secretariat and invites UNEP to support the process towards a successful reporting system for the Carpathian Convention, which shall lead to harmonized knowledge management and national reporting, limiting the reporting burden of the Parties to the extent possible and increasing transparency and value of data collection and analysis;
5. Encourages the Parties to undertake necessary efforts to ensure efficient and consistent implementation of the Carpathian Convention at the national level, especially in regard to raising awareness about the Carpathian Convention and its activities among relevant governmental entities and supporting smooth implementation of the Carpathian Convention in all relevant sectors;
6. Welcomes the document “Improving functioning of the Carpathian Convention Working Groups”, which proposes establishing a role of the Chairperson of each existing Working Group (WGs), in order to enhance the implementation of the Convention and support cooperation and exchange of information among WGs and other relevant actors, hence, encourages the Parties to take the leading role of at least one WGs, with strong support of the Secretariat, and requests the Secretariat to update the Terms of Reference for the relevant WGs in this respect;
7. In respect to the above Decision COP6/1 para 6, further welcomes taking leading role of the WGs by the respective Parties as follows: WG Biodiversity – Czech Republic; WG Forest –Slovakia; WG Climate Change - Hungary; WG SARD - Romania; WG Tourism - Poland; WG Transport - Poland; WG Cultural Heritage and Traditional Knowledge - Slovakia; WG Spatial Development (open); and requests the Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee (CCIC) to regularly assess, evaluate and guide the arrangements, and make the necessary alterations, as appropriate, and invites the Parties to consider taking the leading role of WG that is open;
8. Requests the Secretariat to continue taking all the necessary efforts, in collaboration with the Parties and stakeholders, to mobilize financial means for the development and implementation of projects in order to foster the implementation of the Carpathian Convention and its Protocols;
9. Invites the Parties to further solicit support for the implementation of the Carpathian Convention from the European Territorial Cooperation funds, the International Visegrad Fund, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) cohesion funds, EEA and Norway Grants, LIFE, European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, Eastern Partnership, the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, and other relevant instruments;
10. Welcomes and appreciates organization of the following meetings of the Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee and Carpathian Convention Working Groups: the 9th CCIC meeting held on17 – 19 December 2018 in Vienna, Austria; the 10th CCIC meeting, held on 11 – 13 December 2019 in Budapest, Hungary; the 11th CCIC meeting, held in a virtual format on 8 October 2020, the 5th meeting of the Working Group on Cultural Heritage Traditional Knowledge (WG Cultural Heritage and Traditional Knowledge), held on 4 – 5 April 2018 in Szentendre Skanzen and Budapest, Hungary; the 8th meeting of the Working Group on Sustainable Transport + IENE Workshop, held on 16 -17 May 2018 in Budapest, Hungary; the 4th meeting of the Working Group on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (WG SARD), held on 27 September 2018 in Vatra Dornei, Romania; the 9th meeting of the Working Group on Sustainable Transport, held on 1 – 2 April 2019 in Budapest, Hungary; the 9th meeting of the Working Group on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological and Landscape Diversity (WG Biodiversity) organized back to back with the EUSDR PA2 Workshop on minimising the negative impacts of power lines on birds, held on 29 – 31 May 2019 in Ostrava, Czech Republic; the 7th meeting of the Working Group on Sustainable Forest Management (WG Forest), held on 27 – 28 June 2019 in Zvolen, Slovakia; the 7th meeting of the Working Group on Adaptation to Climate Change (WG Climate Change) organized back to back with the Climate Data Store (CDS) training, held on 8 – 9 October 2019 in Budapest, Hungary; the 10th meeting of the WG Biodiversity organized back to back with workshop on large carnivores monitoring and conservation in the Carpathians, held on 25 – 28 November 2019 in Coltesti, Romania; the 11th meeting of the WG Biodiversity organized online on 10 March 2020, the 10th meeting of the Working Group on Sustainable Transport, organized online on 11 March 2020, and the 7th meeting of WG Climate Change organized online on 15 May 2020.