As we approach the year’s end, biodiversity is being discussed in several major convenings, including the meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the 11th session of the Governing Body (GB 11) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), and the 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP20) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

While the CBD negotiations on biodiversity last month mainly focused on the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), and the ITPGRFA Governing Body aims to finalize years of negotiations to enhance the functioning of the Treaty’s Multilateral System (MLS) of access and benefit-sharing (ABS), the mission of CITES is to prevent unsustainable trade in endangered species – while considering the human communities most proximate to and dependent on them.

The Convention, which entered into to force in 1975, seeks to ensure that transboundary commerce in wild species is legal, sustainable, traceable, and congruent with conservation goals. Its operational bodies include the Standing Committee (SC) and two scientific committees – the Plants Committee (PC) and the Animals Committee (AC). Fifteen years ago, in 2010, the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) was created to further enhance the international cooperation needed to support national efforts to strengthen the enforcement response.

The CoP has convened every two to three years since its first meeting in Bern, Switzerland, in 1976. Agendas for these meetings have been expanding, with each CoP having to review an increasingly greater number of items.

Delegates to the anniversary CoP20, which marks 50 years of work under CITES, will review a record 114 items, including 149 working documents and 51 proposals to amend the three CITES Appendices, which contain the lists of protected species. Among the issues CoP20 will consider are: proposals to list additional sharks, rays, sea cucumbers, and eels, building on the historic expansion of marine listings at CoP19; and proposals to reopen international trade in ivory stockpiled from savannah elephants and in horn from saiga antelope.

Also on the agenda is a CITES Strategic Vision, which puts CITES priorities in context with the goals and targets of other global biodiversity commitments, including the GBF, adopted just weeks following CITES CoP19.

CoP20 delegates will also consider:

• A language strategy for the Convention, including efforts to provide information in multiple languages to improve implementation and accessibility;
• Livelihoods, including benefits to Indigenous Peoples and local communities from trade in CITES-listed species;
• A capacity-building framework for the Convention;
• Trade in medicinal and aromatic plants;
• Demand reduction strategies to shift consumer choice away from illegal wildlife products; and
• The role of CITES in reducing the risks of zoonotic disease emergence associated with the global wildlife trade.

CoP20 will convene from 24 November to 5 December 2025 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It is the first CoP to be hosted in Central Asia. [ENB Coverage of CITES CoP20]