Amid “reason[s] for hope” for the mission of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the 78th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee (SC78) faced the challenge of “a significant and widening disconnect between workloads and resources,” the Earth Negotiation Bulletin (ENB) highlights. Discussions focused on actionable and impactful recommendations to the 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP20), with eight substantial issues deferred for later consideration.
Setting the stage, the ENB summary report of the meeting notes that accelerating biodiversity loss and a fraught geopolitical landscape make it imperative “to ensure that international trade in wildlife remains sustainable, legal, and traceable,” which is the goal of CITES. The SC, it writes, “provides the Convention with policy guidance essential to realizing its mission of a sustainable future for wild fauna and flora,” as well as “for the people who rely on them for sustenance and livelihoods, … breathable air, clean water, and a habitable biosphere.”
In her opening remarks, CITES Secretary-General Ivonne Higuero noted that “there is reason for hope.” Recent wins brought by CITES implementation include the dramatic recovery of the saiga antelope population in Kazakhstan, and progress made on compliance in the implementation of the Convention for African teak, Malagasy palisanders, and rosewoods for trade in captive-bred specimens.
According to the ENB analysis of the meeting, “in the last 15 years, the number of decisions taken through CITES has grown more than 200%, while over this same time frame, Secretariat capacity has only increased 18%.” “Several delegates also confessed that the capacity of their countries to implement CITES had similarly flatlined, and in some cases even shrunk,” it notes.
Against this background, over 127 working documents were up for discussion at SC78, spanning 87 agenda items and more than 200 potential decisions. Even an extra day for the working programme was not enough to complete the agenda, ENB notes. The eight issues deferred for later consideration through Notifications to the Parties before submission to CoP20 are likely to generate significant debate. These include the CITES Strategic Vision, language strategy for the Convention, and the capacity-building framework.
Given limited time and resources, discussions focused on recommendations to CoP20 to shape the future of CITES, including on: sharks and rays; seahorses; eels; an information system for trade in specimens of CITES-listed tree species; seizure reporting on big cats; and monitoring elephant poaching. They also addressed potential cooperation between CITES and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) on jaguar conservation, and potential future interaction between CITES and the new Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement).
CITES SC78 convened from 3-8 February 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland. It was the final meeting before CoP20, scheduled to take place from 24 November to 5 December 2025 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, which will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Convention’s entry into force. [ENB Coverage of CITES SC78]
