Highlights and images for 25 October 2024

As the evening stocktake plenary loomed over Friday’s activities, the pressure to wrap up discussions in contact and working groups became palpable with every passing hour. In different settings, Co-Chairs similarly pushed for efficiency and focus on the main areas of controversy. Parties, however, seemed more concerned with securing their national positions in every single paragraph of draft decisions rather than seeking compromise solutions.

Want to dig deeper into today's talks? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.

The two Working Groups addressed conference room papers on several items under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit-sharing (ABS). Deliberations on the financial mechanism and resources under the two Protocols revealed well-known principled controversies over the role of the Global Environment Facility.

Negotiations on the development of a thematic action plan on capacity building in the contact group on synthetic biology reflected parties’ divergent approaches to novel biotechnologies, and contrasting views on the role of the Convention and the Cartagena Protocol in their assessment and regulation. The contact group on climate change engaged in historically difficult deliberations on the interlinkages between biodiversity and climate, and the contribution of biodiversity to climate-related goals.

The contact group on planning, monitoring, reporting, and review considered the draft decision and associated annexes on the monitoring framework of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Delegates agreed to add a new headline indicator on land-use change and land tenure in the traditional territories of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, although several other issues remain outstanding.

An evening plenary elected Jean Bruno Mikissa (Gabon) as Chair of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), and Clarissa Souza Della Nina (Brazil) as Chair of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI); and heard progress reports on the deliberations of the Working Groups, contact groups, and the budget committee.

The CBD Conference of the Parties then adopted a decision on sustainable wildlife management. The Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety adopted decisions on:

• The Biosafety Clearing-House;
• Socio-economic considerations; and
• The Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress.

The Meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on ABS adopted decisions on compliance, and development of methodology for the second assessment and review of the effectiveness of the Protocol.

As weary-eyed delegates left the conference center, some got ready for a much-needed break over the weekend, while others prepared for continued consultations on the most complex items, including digital sequence information and resource mobilization.