In accordance with the precautionary approach contained in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the objective of this Protocol is to contribute to ensuring an adequate level of protection in the field of the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health, and specifically focusing on transboundary movements.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) agreed on a provisional list of global headline indicators, to assess progress at the global level towards the 2010 target (decision VII/30), and to effectively communicate trends in biodiversity related to the three objectives of the Convention. In decision VII/30 the COP established a process for testing and developing the indicators, with inputs from SBSTTA, the ad hoc Working Groups on ABS and Article 8(j), and an AHTEG on indicators for assessing progress towards the 2010 biodiversity target.