2 December 2018: Held under the theme, ‘Investing in Biodiversity for People and Planet,’ the UN Biodiversity Conference resulted in the adoption of numerous decisions on strategic, administrative, financial, and ecosystem-related issues of relevance to the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS).

Held from 13-29 November 2018 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, the Conference featured:

• the African Ministerial Summit on Biodiversity (13 November);
• the High-level Segment of the Conference (14-15 November);
• the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 14) to the CBD (17-29 November);
• the ninth meeting of the COP serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP/MOP 9) (17-29 November);
• the third meeting of the COP serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilization (COP/MOP 3) (17-29 November 2018); and
• parallel meetings, side events, and the Rio Conventions Pavilion.

Emerging technologies and the process for developing the post-2020 global biodiversity framework received the lion’s share of attention at the Conference. Following lengthy debates, the Conference established an intersessional process, including an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) to continue work on digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources under the Convention and the Nagoya Protocol, and extended the online forum and AHTEG on synthetic biology. An intersessional open-ended working group will deliberate on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and will also address the outcomes of the AHTEG on DSI. It is expected that this process will take into account other global commitments, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs. The post-2020 framework is expected to be adopted at the 2020 UN Biodiversity Conference, to be held in October 2020 in Beijing, China.

An intersessional open-ended working group will deliberate on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

In addition, the Conference adopted procedures for avoiding or managing conflicts of interest in expert groups, as well as a number of other tangible outcomes expected to assist in national implementation, including:

• voluntary guidance on the integration of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures into wider land- and seascapes;
• voluntary guidance on effective governance models for management of protected areas, including equity;
• scientific and technical advice on other effective area-based conservation measures;
• voluntary guidelines for the design and effective implementation of ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction (DRR);
• supplementary voluntary guidance for avoiding unintentional introductions of invasive alien species associated with trade in live organisms;
• an updated plan of action 2018-2020 for the International Initiative on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators;
• voluntary guidance for a sustainable wild meat sector; and
• the Rutzolijirisaxik voluntary guidelines for the repatriation of traditional knowledge relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.

[IISD RS Coverage of the Conference] [IISD RS Summary and Analysis of the Conference] [Conference Webpage] [CBD Press Release]