The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has announced a revised schedule for the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15), the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CP-MOP 10), and the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties 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 (NP-MOP 4). COP 15 is expected to provide for the conclusion of negotiations on a post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

COP 15 was originally expected to convene in October 2020 in Kunming, China. Due to the global pandemic emerging in early 2020, the meetings were rescheduled several times. On 18 August 2021, the Secretariat announced that COP 15 will not take place in person in October 2021. Instead, COP 15 will take place in two parts.

The first part will take place in a virtual format, from 11-15 October 2021. Accredited delegates from embassies and organizations already located and based in China may gather in Kunming during this period. The second part of COP 15 will be a face-to-face meeting in Kunming, China, from 25 April-8 May 2022.

The October 2021 event will include an opening of the meetings, discussion of agenda items that must be addressed for the continuation of the operations of the Convention and the Protocols, and a high-level segment. China, in consultation with the Secretariat, will convene the virtual high-level segment from 12-13 October 2021, with the objective of providing political momentum for the preparations of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. 

The in-person event in 2022 will address the remaining agenda items of the Meetings, including the finalization and adoption of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. A high-level segment is expected to take place during this event as well. 

Several meetings announced in the CBD’s revised schedule will provide for in-person preparatory negotiations on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and other substantive matters. These meetings are: the resumed session of SBSTTA 24; the resumed session of SBI 3; and the Open-Ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. These are tentatively expected to convene in person in Geneva, Switzerland, in January 2022. 

SBSTTA 24 and SBI 3 held on-line meetings in May-June 2021. An online session of the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will take place from 23 August-3 September 2021. 

Registration for the first part of COP 15 is open until 1 October 2021. [CBD Announcement]