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2025 was a year that saw several significant developments in the field of biodiversity and biodiversity governance.
The ‘Cali Fund’ was launched on February 25, 2025, at the resumed 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Rome.
Everyone who thought that the COP16 in Cali, Colombia, would be the game changer on the issue of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) is in for disappointment. Two meetings held in April proved this.
In April-end, the National Biodiversity Authority released a new set of rules to manage sharing of benefits generated through the use of biological resources.
On June 29, 2025, Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the headquarters of the National Turmeric Board in Nizamabad, Telangana.
The inaugural SB8J meeting concluded with a strategic work plan to integrate Indigenous Peoples and local communities into CBD decision-making.
The Indian government’s Draft Seeds Bill, 2025, which is its latest attempt to overhaul regulations governing the seed sector, aims to replace the Seeds Act, 1966, and the Seed Control Order, 1983. It drew sharp criticism from farmer groups, seed experts and civil society organisations.
Talks on the enhancement of the Multilateral Mechanism for the functioning of access and benefit sharing failed at the 11th meeting of the Governing Body (GB11) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Global South nations drove key decisions as CITES marked its 50th anniversary in Samarkand.
Armenia unveiled the logo for the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in December. At its centre was Polyommatus eriwanensis, a blue butterfly found only in and around Yerevan.