Highlights and images for 25 March 2025

A spirit of camaraderie seemed to accompany Tuesday’s discussions, which Chair Benoît Girard memorably described as going “swimmingly.” Delegates expressed broad support for the preparation of three new “State of the World” assessments on: Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture, Aquatic Genetic Resources, and Animal Genetic Resources. They also welcomed status reports on the implementation of global plans of action (GPAs) for aquatic and animal genetic resources.

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

Presentations showcased the wide range of activities undertaken by the Commission, its members, and partners such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), including: 

• strengthening the interoperability of and encouraging data provision to the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS); 

• the development of a breed recognition tool for cattle livestock; 

• innovations in cryoconservation; and 

• updating national registries with data from AquaGRIS, FAO's global information system for aquatic genetic resources.  

Other themes across the day included the importance of ensuring the interoperability of data and information systems, capacity-building, predictable financial support, and respect for and consideration of national and regional circumstances. 

Running ahead of schedule, the Commission also considered a working group report and two draft studies on microorganism and invertebrate genetic resources. This new workstream attracted great interest, with various delegates taking the floor to highlight their own policies and practices and proposing possible ways forward.  

Behind the scenes, informal consultations continued on the contentious open issues of access and benefit-sharing, digital sequence information, and the implementation of the Framework for Action on Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture. Moreover, a contact group on the role of genetic resources for food and agriculture in mitigation of and adaptation to climate change convened in the evening, tasked with reaching agreement on options for reissuing or simplifying a questionnaire feeding into the baseline report, and for modalities of the global multi-stakeholder workshop.