The inaugural SB8J meeting concluded with a strategic work plan to integrate Indigenous Peoples and local communities into CBD decision-making.
This marks a significant shift towards implementing Article 8j, focusing on traditional knowledge and practices.
It aims to ensure tangible outcomes through policy and funding.
The first meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Article 8 (j) and Other Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Related to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (SB8J) ended with recommendations for how this new body will function. This would ensure that Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLC) have a role in the decision-making processes at CBD.
So far, IPLCs have been sidelined at CBD but with the adoption of the new subsidiary body during Conference of Parties in 2024, this is likely to change. The body will ensure that CBD’s Article 8j, which relates to traditional knowledge, innovations and practices, is implemented.
SB8J is the first permanent body of its kind established under any multilateral environmental agreement. Panama's environment minister, Juan Carlos Navarro, urged the body to ensure that commitments “translate into real policies, accessible funding and visible results on the ground”.
At its first meeting spread over four days, delegates discussed the following:
Contribution of traditional knowledge in the global report on the progress in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Foundational issues such as the operation and governance of SB8J
Strategies for mobilizing resources specifically for capacity-building, development and technical support for indigenous peoples and local communities.
Discussions on guidelines to implement the Article 8j work programme. This specifically includes the process to review and update the Voluntary Glossary of Key Terms and Concepts Within the Context of Article 8(j) and Related Provisions.
Guidelines to strengthen the legal and policy framework for the implementation of KMGBF’s Targets 2 and 3. These pertain to restoration of 30 per cent of all degraded ecosystems, and conservation of 30 per cent of land, waters, and seas.
The Parties’ decisions are as of now in the form of bracketed text (meaning they have not yet been agreed upon) and would be presented for resolution at 17th Conference of Parties to CBD (COP17) next October in Armenia.
Parties to CBD will meet three times before COP17, where these issues might be discussed. These are meetings of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, as well as the Subsidiary Body on Implementation.
“This is just the beginning of the journey, but the first round of SB8J negotiations has paved the way for a fully operational body that has everything it needs to deliver on its mandate and marks a major step forward,” said Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary, CBD.