Highlights and images for 11 August 2026

The day began on a sober note as the seventh meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI 7) reflected on the devastating 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck western Colombia on 10 August, with Cali, the historic host city of the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16), among the affected areas. 

Many recalled time spent exploring the city during the COP, lending a deeply personal dimension to the tragedy. Coming shortly after the earthquake that struck Kumamoto, Japan, in July 2026, the disaster underscores the fragility of communities and ecosystems, as compounding crises, both avoidable and unavoidable continue to test planetary resilience.

Delegates gathered in morning and evening plenaries to discuss draft recommendations contained in conference room papers (CRPs) and to adopt final recommendations to COP. 

Plenary adopted the SBI recommendations related to: 

• Synthetic biology: thematic action plan to support capacity-building and development, access to and transfer of technology and knowledge sharing; and  
• Second assessment and review of the effectiveness of the Nagoya Protocol. 

Clearing-house Mechanism and Knowledge Management  

Delegates completed a full reading of the draft recommendation, with convergence emerging on requests to the Secretariat to enhance the implementation of the future work on the clearing-house mechanism and knowledge management strategy. Delegates also welcomed a request to the Secretariat to convene regional workshops on knowledge management in the intersessional period between COP 17 and COP 18. 

Communication, Education and Public Awareness  

Delegates deliberated on the draft recommendations on the global plan of action for education on biodiversity and approved it with some amendments. Several delegates called for explicit recognition of Indigenous peoples and local communities, women and youth as recipients of direct, dedicated and accessible financial support, while Bahrain proposed that resources could also flow through authorized national mechanisms. Delegates also debated how the plan would be finalized and implemented. 

Engagement with Subnational Governments

Delegates considered the draft recommendation, discussing the importance of strengthening the capacities of subnational governments, cities, other local authorities, and customary, traditional and community institutions to enhance native biodiversity in urban, densely populated and rural areas. They welcomed references in the recommendation to biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning, urban biodiversity management, and the restoration of ecosystems and ecological connectivity in this regard. The draft recommendation was approved. 

Mainstreaming of Biodiversity  

Delegates considered and approved the draft recommendation, with unresolved issues including proposals for text encouraging sustainable use of biodiversity to support conservation and its integration into economic and productive activities. They also discussed preambular paragraphs for the first time. 

Delegates also considered a CRP on resource mobilization, with Saudi Arabia calling to bracket each paragraph if the plenary would not consider a paragraph-by-paragraph reading. Delegates finally approved the CRP as a whole.

In the afternoon, informal consultations took place on administrative and budgetary matters, and two contact groups convened in parallel in the late afternoon to advance work on the: 

• Global Review of Collective Progress in GBF Implementation; and 
• Financial Mechanism 

During the lunch break, the Kunming Biodiversity Fund Secretariat announced the launch of the Call for Proposals to support developing countries in closing the implementation gaps identified in the collective progress report. They noted that the Call targets thematic streams related to: protecting ecosystems; mainstreaming biodiversity; strengthening resource mobilization; and sharing benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and digital sequence information. They highlighted that interested stakeholders could submit proposals in two stages - the deadline for first round of submissions is 15 September 2026, with the recipients to be announced at COP 17.