Convention on Biological Diversity: Special Virtual Sessions

The twenty-fourth meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) and the third meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) are due to be held in early 2021, having been rescheduled since May 2020 due the COVID-19 pandemic. Since further delays may be inevitable, and to maintain momentum ahead of the United Nations Biodiversity Summit and the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP), and to facilitate preparations for the meetings of the subsidiary bodies, a series of special virtual sessions will take place from 15-18 September 2020

The special sessions will provide the opportunity for the presentation of information and for statements by parties and observers. No negotiations, decisions or formal recommendations will be made at the special sessions.

The programme of the special virtual sessions includes:

• Launch of the fifth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (Special Session of SBSTTA), 15 September
• Testing of A Party-Led Review Process, Through an Open-Ended Forum (Special Session of SBI), 16-17 September
• Strategy for Resource Mobilization (Special session of SBI), 17 September
• Preparation of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (Special Joint Session of SBSTTA and SBI), 18 September

The meetings will be held from 7:00 – 9:00 am Montreal time (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-4:00).

IISD, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, is providing daily web coverage and a briefing note from the special virtual sessions.