Highlights and images for 28 March 2025

“Biodiversity has never been as prevalent on the global agenda,” recognized Chair Benoît Girard (Canada) during the closing plenary of the twentieth regular session of the Commission on Genetic Resouces for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA 20). CGRFA Secretary Manoela Pessoa de Miranda confessed that although she had been apprehensive just a few days earlier in the face of the session’s ambitious agenda, she ultimately left the meeting “inspired.”

Indeed, Friday’s deliberations saw an exceptionally smooth adoption of the meeting report, as a final round of informal consultations on Thursday evening successfully resolved outstanding disagreement. 

Members expressed thanks to retiring Secretariat officers Bonnie Furman and Stefano Diulgheroff, and to Graham Mair, outgoing Secretary to the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Aquatic Genetic Resources. Underscoring the technical expertise required to steer the Commission’s work, they urged the Commission to ensure a smooth transition in filling these positions. 

The Commission adopted, as amended, the 21-page draft report summarizing the 14 agenda items of the meeting, with five appendices containing:

• a draft questionnaire on the implementation of the Framework for Action on Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture; 
• a concept note for a desk study on the effects of seed policies, laws, and regulations on farmers’ ability to access seeds and planting materials of diverse, locally-adapted farmers’ varieties/land races; 
• a draft revised Global Plan of Action for the Conservation, Sustainable Use, and Development of Forest Genetic Resources (GPA-FGR); 
• a draft Conference Resolution on the GPA-FGR; and 
• the procedure for the identification of new and emerging issues. 

Several delegates provided minor amendments and additions to the draft report. The US dissociated themselves from any mention in the report of climate change, gender, and the Convention on Biological Diversity, to which they are not a party, and said they “reject and denounce” the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.  

The Bureau elected Paz Benavidez II (Philippines) as Chair for CGRFA 21. 

In closing statements, delegates lauded the collaborative spirit that carried deliberations forward throughout the week, with one noting they were “proud to be part of this group of people dedicated to the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources for food and agriculture.” Members further applauded Chair Girard and the Secretariat for their competent guidance. The meeting closed at 6:04 pm.