Delegates meeting in Nairobi will shape recommendations for COP 17 by reviewing scientific evidence, implementation challenges and financing measures to speed delivery of the global biodiversity framework before 2030.
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity began two weeks of negotiations on Monday to review the first global assessment of progress towards the 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and to develop recommendations for the 2026 UN Biodiversity Conference.
The meetings in Nairobi will examine scientific, technical and implementation issues before the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) and meetings of the Nagoya and Cartagena Protocols (MOPs 6 and 12, respectively), which are scheduled to take place in Yerevan, Armenia, in October.
At the halfway point towards achieving the KMGBF targets by 2030, countries will consider a draft global progress report intended to inform the Global Review at COP 17. The report, known as the “State of Biodiversity Action”, concludes that although the framework has generated record global engagement for nature, current efforts remain insufficient to meet its goals.
Delegates in Nairobi will review the report’s findings as they negotiate recommendations for COP 17. The final version of the report to be considered at the conference in Yerevan will be made public shortly after the Nairobi meetings.
The negotiations are taking place through two subsidiary bodies of the Convention on Biological Diversity: the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) and the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI). Together, the meetings will review evidence, identify implementation challenges and prepare recommendations that will help shape negotiations and decisions at COP 17.
SBSTTA-28 will examine the scientific and technical evidence supporting decisions at COP 17 and assess where global biodiversity action requires strengthening. Delegates will also negotiate recommendations on marine and coastal biodiversity, protected and conserved areas, sustainable wildlife management, synthetic biology and the application of scientific knowledge to decision-making under the convention, including through the “Business and Biodiversity Assessment” published earlier this year by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Building on those scientific recommendations, SBI-7 will negotiate policies, financing and other implementation measures aimed at accelerating progress. The meeting will develop recommendations on resource mobilisation, digital sequence information on genetic resources (DSI), capacity-building, biodiversity mainstreaming and implementation of the Cartagena and Nagoya Protocols.
Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework had generated unprecedented worldwide engagement for biodiversity.
“We now have, for the first time with the Global Report, a shared evidence base on how we are doing in implementing the Framework, but evidence is only valuable if it informs action. The negotiations beginning today are an opportunity for Parties to consider this evidence as they build consensus on the first Global Review and the decisions that will need to be taken to increase ambition, accelerate and scale up action for biodiversity at COP 17,” she said.
SBSTTA-28 Chair Jean Bruno Mikissa of Gabon said the recommendations negotiated by the body would provide “the essential bridge between scientific evidence and political decision-making.”
“Our responsibility is to ensure that informational inputs and recommendations are scientifically robust, technically sound, and responsive to the needs of Parties as they prepare for COP 17,” he said.
SBI-7 Chair Clarissa Souza Della Nina of Brazil described the meeting as “a critical milestone on the road to COP-17.”
“Parties will consider a set of agenda items that have the potential to shape the global biodiversity agenda through 2030 and beyond. These include how to use the findings of the Global Review to accelerate implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, address financing gaps and harmful incentives, mainstream biodiversity across economic sectors and all levels of government, advance a global plan for biodiversity education, and review progress in implementing the Protocols and strengthening capacity-building efforts. The decisions taken at SBI-7 will help define the level of ambition we can expect at COP-17 and will be instrumental in accelerating collective action for biodiversity worldwide,” she said.
