Summary
On Monday, 25 April 2016, Chair Andrew Bignell (New Zealand) opened the twentieth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). CBD Executive Secretary Braulio Dias underscored, inter alia, consideration of key elements for a short-term action plan for ecosystem restoration, and the new structure of the Secretariat, following its functional review. He announced that he will not pursue renewal of his mandate at the end of his term in February 2017. Jiri Hlavacek, on behalf of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner, drew delegates’ attention to the second session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) to be convened in Nairobi, from 23-27 May 2016.
After addressing organizational matters, delegates addressed: the scientific review of the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and related work programmes, and the achievement of the Aichi targets, focusing on Aichi target 11 on protected areas; and biodiversity mainstreaming across sectors, including agriculture, forests and fisheries. Delegates also started consideration of marine and coastal biodiversity, focusing on ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs).
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web updates from the 20th Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice and the 1st Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has produced a summary and analysis of both meetings which is available in HTML and PDF format.
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