The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

26th Meeting of the Ramsar Standing Committee -- Agenda papers

Proposed budget for the triennium 2003-2005 for recommendation to COP8

1. Article 6 of the Convention establishes, inter alia, that:

"5. The Conference of the Contracting Parties shall establish and keep under review the financial regulations of this Convention. At each of its ordinary meetings, it shall adopt the budget for the next financial period by a two-thirds majority of Contracting Parties present and voting.

6. Each Contracting Party shall contribute to the budget according to a scale of contributions adopted by unanimity of the Contracting Parties present and voting at a meeting of the ordinary Conference of the Contracting Parties."

2. Financial regulations were adopted at COP5 (Resolution V.2, attached for reference). They were revalidated by COP6 and COP7 and could be revalidated again by COP8.

3. The Standing Committee should propose a budget for the next triennium, which should be circulated at least three months in advance of the COP, as indicated by the Rules of Procedure.

4. The Secretary General has prepared two budget proposals, as follows:

a) a "minimum budget" which will allow the maintenance of the present level of staffing at the Ramsar Bureau, with the current level of operations. It is based upon the 2002 budget (submitted for adoption by the Standing Committee in document DOC.SC26-14), adjusted for inflation in Switzerland at 2% (current level of inflation is 1.8%), plus a 3% increase in the salaries budget line to allow for performance-related salary increases. This "minimum budget" has no annotation because in essence it is the current budget, with the adjustments indicated in the previous sentence.

b) an "ideal budget" containing a number of increases in the budget that in the opinion of the Secretary General would allow the Convention to operate more effectively. This "ideal budget" will also reduce the current pressure felt by Bureau staff:

i) it would allow the Bureau to deploy additional staff to undertake a task that in the past six years has at least doubled in demands and expectations; and

ii) would discharge the Bureau from the time-consuming and increasingly difficult task of having to raise funds to cover the cost of activities directly related to the governance of the Convention, such as the regional meetings between COPs and the support for delegates to attend the COP. The proposed increases are explained in the annotations to this version of the budget.

5. The Secretary General submits this "ideal budget" to the consideration of the Standing Committee, with the hope that most, if not all, new items could be considered for recommendation to the COP. As indicated in the box on "Requested action", the Standing Committee may wish to defer the final decision on the budget to be proposed to the COP to the meeting of the Subgroup on COP8 planned for 6-8 May 2002. It should also be noted that the draft Agenda and Programme for COP8 contains a proposal to establish a Committee on Finances and Budget on the first day of the COP to facilitate discussions on this matter and propose a decision to the COP.

6. Concerning the invoices of contributions for fiscal year 2003, the budget for this year would be adopted by the COP only in late November 2002, which is too late to send out invoices, since this would mean late payments and the risk of creating a cash flow problem for the Bureau.

7. Consequently, the Bureau requests the authorization of the Standing Committee to send out the invoices for the 2003 contributions in May 2002, based upon the 2002 budget but using the UN scale applicable to 2003. After the approval of the 2003 budget by COP8, if the difference to be paid by a Contracting Party is more than 10% (upwards or downwards) with respect to the invoiced amount, a revised invoice would be issued in January 2003. If the difference is less than 10%, the adjustment would be made in the invoice corresponding to the 2004 contributions, which should be sent out in May 2003.

Annex 1

Terms of reference for the financial administration of the Convention (Resolution 5.2 annex)

RES. C.5.2
  Annex 3

1. A separate account has been established by the Director General of IUCN on behalf of the Bureau of the Convention to administer the finances of the Convention. The Secretary General is responsible for the administration of Convention funds with all expenditure from this account requiring his approval or that of his designee.

2. The financial period shall be for three calendar years beginning 1 January 1994 and ending 31 December 1996. The appropriations of the account for the financial period shall be financed from:

(a) the contributions made by the Contracting Parties by reference to the table in Annex 2, including contributions from any new Contracting Parties which are to be added to this table;

(b) subject to the approval of the Standing Committee, contributions from States not Party to the Convention, other governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental organizations and other sources; and

(c) any uncommitted and unexpended appropriations from the financial period 1991-93.

3. The budget estimates, prepared in the currency of the country in which the seat of the Bureau is located, covering the income and expenditure of each of the three calendar years constituting the financial period to which they relate, shall be submitted to each ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention.

4. The estimates of each of the calendar years covered by the financial period shall be divided into sections; shall be specified according to budget lines; shall include references to the programmes of work to which they relate; and shall be accompanied by such information as may be required by, or on behalf of, the contributors, and such further information as the Standing Committee may deem useful and advisable.

5. The proposed budget shall be dispatched by the Bureau to all Contracting Parties at least 90 days before the date fixed for the opening of the ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties.

6. The budget shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the Contracting Parties present and voting at the ordinary Meeting, pursuant to the terms of Article 6, paragraph 5 of the Convention, as amended by the Extraordinary Conference of the Contracting Parties held at Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada from 28 May to 3 June 1987.

7. In the event that the Secretary General anticipates that there will be a shortfall in resources over any calendar year as a whole, he shall seek the approval of the Standing Committee as to its priorities for expenditure.

8. After seeking the approval of the Standing Committee, the Secretary General shall be empowered to make transfers from one budget line to another. At the end of the first and the second calendar years of a financial period, the Secretary General may proceed to transfer any uncommitted/unexpended balance of appropriations to the next calendar year, provided that the total budget approved by the Conference of the Contracting Parties shall not be exceeded unless this is specifically sanctioned in writing by the Standing Committee.

9. All contributions shall be paid in convertible currencies. Contributions from States which become Contracting Parties after the beginning of the financial period should be made on a pro-rata basis for the balance of the year.

10. As soon as practicable at the end of each calendar year of a financial period, the Secretary General shall submit the audited accounts for the year. He shall also submit, as soon as practicable, the audited accounts for the financial period.

11. These Terms of Reference shall be effective for the financial period of 1 January 1994 to 31 December 1996.

Annex 2

Minimum core budget 2003-2005

adjusted for inflation (2%) and performance related salary increases (3%)

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Annex 3

Income, Minimum core budget 2003-2005

 Annex 4

Annual contributions for the year 2003 using the UN scale and the "minimum budget"