Highlights and images for 31 July 2026

Another full day of contact groups at the twenty-eighth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 28) saw delegates continue negotiations across a wide range of issues under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). As the meeting enters its final stretch, some groups have crossed the finish line, with Conference Room Papers (CRPs) beginning to emerge, while others continue to grapple with several unresolved issues. The evening Plenary adopted CRPs on Matters Related to the work of Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and Marine and Coastal Biodiversity.

Contact Group on Matters Related to the Work Programme of IPBES 

The contact group continued its consideration of the draft recommendations, focusing on the business and biodiversity assessment. They discussed language encouraging businesses and financial institutions to disclose their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity, while agreeing to remove references to integrating such information into decision-making and investment processes. The group also considered proposed text on strengthening the Global Partnership for Business and Biodiversity, an issue which remained unresolved.

Reporting back from the Contact Group on IPBES during a stocktaking plenary, Dickson Chitupa (Zimbabwe) noted constructive discussions and progress, highlighted areas where consensus could not be reached, and recommended that the CRP resulting from the group be addressed at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the CBD. SBSTTA Chair Jean Bruno Mikassa noted the CRP will be merged with the recommendation from SBSTTA 27. Delegates approved the draft recommendation.

Contact Group on Sustainable Wildlife Management 

Delegates advanced work on sustainable wildlife management, addressing a proposal to include sustainable biodiversity-based activities, products and services in consultations on a possible programme of work on the sustainable use of biodiversity. Views differed on whether the issue falls within the mandate of SBSTTA 28, and suggestions were made to address the topic in a future COP.

The group also considered a proposal for an IPBES assessment on human-wildlife conflict and agreed that it should be pursued through relevant Convention processes. Delegates completed their review of annex provisions on policy coherence, inclusive and participatory decision-making, multiple knowledge systems, recognition of rights, and the equitable sharing of costs and benefits.

During the report back in Plenary, Contact Group Co-Chair Lactitia Tshitwamulomoni (South Africa) reported that the group has completed its mandate on draft decisions and the draft global guidance on the sustainable management of wildlife. She highlighted unresolved issues, in spite the positive spirit of compromise.

Contact Group on Synthetic Biology 

Delegates continued consideration of the draft decisions, and the thematic action plan to support capacity-building and development, access to and transfer of technology and knowledge-sharing in the context of synthetic biology for CBD and Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) implementation. 

During the evening plenary, Contact Group Co-Chair Martha Kandawa-Schulz (Namibia) reported consensus on several issue despite divergent views on the establishment of an ad hoc technical expert group, among other issues. She reported that a CRP would be prepared for further discussion during the upcoming meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI).

Contact Group on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity

Contact Group Co-Chair Holly Kelley-Weil (UK) reported that the group had fulfilled its mandate, noting the availability of a conference room paper. SBSTTA Chair Jean Bruno Mikissa lauded the group for presenting a balanced text and highlighted that this was “as far as it can take us at this meeting.” He called on delegates to approve the draft recommendation as presented, for further consideration at COP 17. Delegates approved the draft.

Contact Group on the Programme of Work on Protected Areas 

Delegates concluded a review of the annex, “update to the programme of work on protected and conserved areas,” which maps the 23 GBF targets against complementary activities that support its implementation. 

Turning to the draft decisions, they debated on, among others, whether to expand the scope from protected areas and conserved areas to protected areas and include other effective area-based conservation measures. Some also suggested recognizing Indigenous and traditional territories within any future definition of conserved areas and requesting further technical work to develop a clear and robust understanding of the term.