Summary highlights 3–11 September 2021

Ministers and Environment Authorities from across the biodiversity-rich Asia-Pacific region will meet to foster collaboration and policy development.

Delegates celebrated the launch of a new report on invasive alien species and their control. They also adopted terms of reference for the midterm review of the work programme, and approved the scoping process for a second global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and approved undertaking two fast-track methodological assessments.

“A new paradigm of high-quality green development is well underway,” and China’s central role in driving this paradigm shift—and the lessons it offers for developing countries—was a key theme of the in-person meeting.

In a watershed moment for biodiversity, GEF Assembly members unanimously agreed to ratify the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund—a new source of funding for protecting endangered species and their ecosystems globally. The meeting also featured the first-ever Partnership Forum, which brought together Indigenous Peoples, youth, women, and representatives of civil society organizations to discuss ways the GEF can support their empowerment and recognition.