IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis

Twenty-fourth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-24) and 
the Third meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI-3)

 

Virtual sessions of SBSTTA-24 and SBI-3 will take place during a period beginning 3 May 2021.  These meetings will allow for timely preparation of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-15) and related meetings, including important work related to the development of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. 

These meetings are being convened virtually as an exceptional measure due to the conditions imposed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and do not constitute a precedent for the organization of future meetings under the Convention.

Further details of the modalities of the meetings are currently being finalized, in consultation with the respective COP and SBSTTA Bureaux, to ensure an inclusive and transparent process. Further details will be provided in the scenario note to be issued shortly for the meetings.

The meetings will build upon the work of the informal meetings of the two bodies that were held in February and March 2021.

Click below to view the statements and webcast recordings made during the informal sessions: 

Twenty-fourth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice 

Article 25 of the Convention on Biological Diversity establishes an open-ended intergovernmental scientific advisory body known as the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) to provide the Conference of the Parties (COP) and, as appropriate, its other subsidiary bodies, with timely advice relating to the implementation of the Convention. As a subsidiary body of the COP, SBSTTA is to report regularly to the COP on all aspects of its work. Multidisciplinary and open to participation by all Parties, SBSTTA comprises government representatives competent in the relevant field of expertise. Its functions include: providing assessments of the status of biological diversity; providing assessments of the types of measures taken in accordance with the provisions of the Convention; and responding to questions that the COP may put to the body. SBSTTA has met 23 times to date and produced a total of 240 recommendations to the Conference of the Parties, most of which have formed the basis for decisions of the Conference of the Parties. 

 

SBSTTA-24 will consider the following agenda items:

  • The post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
  • Synthetic biology
  • Risk assessment and risk management of living modified organisms (LMOs)
  • Marine and coastal biodiversity
  • Biodiversity and agriculture
  • Programme of work of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
  • Biodiversity and health
  • Invasive alien species

Click here to view the Scenario Note for SBSTTA-24 (.pdf)

 

Third meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation 

In Decision XII/26, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity established the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) to replace the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention, with the terms of reference contained in the annex to decision XII/26. The first meeting of the SBI was held on 2-6 May 2016 in Montreal, Canada. The four functions and core areas of work of SBI consist of: (a) review of progress in implementation; (b) strategic actions to enhance implementation; (c) strengthening means of implementation; and (d) operations of the convention and the Protocols. The Bureau of the Conference of the Parties serves as the Bureau of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation. The modus operandi on the organization and operation of SBI was approved by  the Conference of the Parties at its thirteenth meeting.

 

SBI-3 will consider the following agenda items:

  • Assessment and review of the effectiveness of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
  • Post-2020 global biodiversity framework
  • Resource mobilization and the financial mechanism
  • Capacity-building, technical and scientific cooperation, technology transfer, knowledge management, and communication
  • Cooperation with other conventions, international organizations and initiatives
  • Mechanisms for reporting, assessment and review of implementation
  • Review of the effectiveness of the processes under the Convention and its protocols
  • Mainstreaming of biodiversity within and across sectors and other strategic actions to enhance implementation
  • Specialized international access and benefit-sharing instruments in the context of Article 4, paragraph 4, of the Nagoya Protocol
  • Global multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism (Article 10 of the Nagoya Protocol
  • Administrative and budgetary matters

Click here to view the Scenario Note for SBI-3 (.pdf)

 

United Nations Biodiversity