While both bodies completed their work, adopting a total of 24 recommendations to the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, many issues remained unresolved.
The ENB analysis of the meeting suggests that discussions will require more time allocation at COP 16.
The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) and the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) made progress on the monitoring framework for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), including relevant indicators and mechanisms for planning, monitoring, reporting, and review.
The 26th meeting of the SBSTTA (SBSTTA 26) and the fourth meeting of the SBI (SBI 4) took place back-to-back in Nairobi, Kenya. SBSTTA 26 met from 13-18 May 2024. SBI 4 convened from 21-29 May.
While both bodies completed their work, adopting a total of 24 recommendations to the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16), many issues remained unresolved, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) summary report of the meeting highlights. “Extensive parts of the draft COP decisions remain bracketed, which means that COP 16 will have to find common ground, adopt meaningful decisions by consensus, and set the GBF’s implementation in motion.”
The GBF marked “a new era for biodiversity conservation and governance,” which, ENB notes, “comes with great promises and increased responsibility.” Yet, “an ever-broadening agenda” led to a lack of time in Nairobi, and “significant parts of the draft recommendations were not discussed.”
Delegates cited the need to change work modalities, noting that “business as usual simply does not work with such an extended agenda and increased ambition.” The ENB analysis of the meeting suggests that discussions will require more time allocation at COP 16. The need to provide the Secretariat with additional human and financial resources to deal with the increasing number of requests for further work was also emphasized.
The ENB report of the meeting notes that a lot remains to be done on many issues. With large portions of text bracketed, plans of action on biodiversity and health, and education, need further work, as does resource mobilization, which is arguably the most prominent. The divisions between developing and developed country parties that “repeatedly surfaced” during the SBI meeting provide an indication of “how difficult closing the biodiversity finance gap will be.” “While some insist on the need for more affluent parties to fulfil their obligations under the Convention and mobilize the necessary financial resources, others point to a stalemate, urging to think out of the box and innovate to find much-needed solutions,” according to ENB. [ENB Coverage of SBSTTA 26 and SBI 4]