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Governments and biodiversity experts are gathered in Nairobi, Kenya to guide the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which was adopted last December at 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-25) is taking place between October 15-October 19, 2023. The 25th meeting is the first time the group has met since the Framework was adopted in December 2022. Some 670 participants from 135 countries are in Nairobi for the meeting.
“The SBSTTA-25 in Nairobi sets the scene for the task at hand: to meet the scientific, technical and technological needs of Parties, in their efforts to move from agreement to action towards our common vision of living in harmony with nature,” said Hesiquio Benitez, chair of the SBSTTA-25.
Discussions are expected on the monitoring framework needed to support implementation of the framework. Over the last year, in accordance with decision 15/5 taken during CoP15, an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) has already met three times.
On the first day of the SBSTTA-25 (October 15), the group presented an update on progress and proposed that instead of simple binary indicators, categorical indicators could be created so that countries could provide a more nuanced report on progress. Final indicators are likely to be available in May 2024.
Additionally, an online discussion board has also been created to help experts share their views on the monitoring framework and indicators.
However, the progress has been slow. To date, there have been 46 comments on this discussion board. Comments are categorised under the four goals of the framework, along with additional categories on cross-cutting issues. Most comments indicate that there is a need to improve the existing indicators.
For example, a comment by Jonas Geldmann from the University of Copenhagen pointed out the lack of an indicator of changes in biodiversity abundance was an unfortunate oversight. While Goal A is to increase the abundance of native wild species to healthy and resilient levels by 2050, the monitoring framework lacks a headline indicator for abundance for comparison. The Living Planet Database and Index could be used for this purpose, Geldmann suggested.
In another comment, Jenna Sullivan-Stack from Oregon State University outlined the work being done to better monitor and understand the outcomes of area-based conservation in the ocean. The overarching goal should be to understand and track not just the quantitative element but also the qualitative aspects, she pointed out.
The MPA guide is based on actual conservation outcomes documented from decades of research from around the world and could be used to track the likely effectiveness of protected areas in the ocean, Sullivan-Stack suggested.
Such suggestions and documents shared by members would also be discussed during the SBSTTA-25. The decision to increase headline indicators is political and out of the scope of the technical body, the co-chair of AHTEG pointed out in his presentation.
Other than the monitoring framework, experts will also discuss the recently released assessment report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services on invasive alien species. The linkages between biodiversity and climate change will also be reviewed by SBSTTA-25 based on recent reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Since its inception in 1995 in Paris, France, SBSTTA has produced a total of 250 recommendations to the Conference of the Parties. The recommendations made by SBSTTA-25 at this Nairobi meeting will be sent for agreement at COP16, scheduled to be held in 2024.