The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) organized a 15-day long marathon of negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, from 14 to 29 March 2022. In contrast with previous meetings, this time three meetings were held concurrently: OEWG 3, SBSTTA 24, and SBI 3 (https://www.cbd.int/conferences/geneva-2022).
GEO BON, an observer to the CBD, was present with a delegation composed of a large team online and a small team on-site, following the COVID-19 measures issued by the host country and the CBD. This was the first meeting in two years where Parties, other governments, and observers were able to meet in person to produce the first negotiated text of goals, targets and supporting mechanisms for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework (GBF).
GEO BON and the bioDISCOVERY programme of Future Earth hosted a side event that focused on their co-produced information document, CBD/SBSTTA/24/INF/31. Key messages made during this side event were the many-to-many relationship among the 21 Action Targets and goals of the GBF and the vital importance of biodiversity monitoring for achieving the GBF’s vision.
Of particular interest for GEO BON was the “traffic-light” evaluation of the proposed indicators of the biodiversity monitoring framework. During this agenda item, Parties judged the readiness of headline indicators to monitor progress on biodiversity goals and targets as well as propose new indicators. It was clear following this session that there is a great deal of work to be done on indicators, therefore a technical meeting on this topic will be organized before COP 15.
Important next steps:
- The fourth meeting of the OEWG (OEWG 4) will be held from 21 to 26 June 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya (ntf-2022-024)
- A technical meeting on indicators will be held from 29 June to 1 July 2022 in Bonn, Germany (ntf-2022-019)
- Adoption of the GBF at the resumed UN Biodiversity Conference (COP-15) later this year in Kunming, China.
Recorded webcasts of the plenary sessions in Geneva can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjpSs1uejVAmgeBVIMoiVie6geTGdv1F5