Biodiversity Law and Governance Day 2024

Convening hybrid on Saturday, 26 October 2024 during CBD COP16 in Cali, Colombia

Submissions will be accepted through 10 September 2024 (Tuesday). 

With leading biodiversity  law and governance counsel, experts and practitioners preparing to join over 12,000 Party delegates and observers for the 16^th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity from 21 October – 01 November 2024, a unique opportunity arises to increase ambition, harness the knowledge and engagement of the biodiversity law and governance community, share innovations and good practices, and strengthen networks and capacity for biodiversity conservation and loss prevention. In response, the Biodiversity Law and Governance Initiative has launched this global call for partners, sponsors and session hosts for Biodiversity Law and Governance Day 2024, which will be held on Saturday, 26 October 2024 in Cali, Colombia, and online.

The opportunity is now open for any interested Parties, observers or other institutions to become partners or sponsors, or to propose a session for the programme. More information can be found below.

Overview
This year’s Biodiversity Law and Governance Day (BLGD 2024) will be held hybrid on Saturday, 26 October 2024 during the 16^th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Cali, Colombia. This full-day global symposium will feature distinguished plenaries, celebratory launching events, more than 8 world-class specialist panels and workshops, as well as the presentation of the 2024 Biodiversity Law and Governance Global Leadership Awards.
BLGD 2024 aims to inspire and optimise legal and institutional reform for achieving current National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) under the CBD, responding to 2024 review of such Action Plans and their alignment to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The objectives of the symposium include identifying and sharing innovative international, national, and local law and governance challenges, mechanisms and good practices relating to global efforts to address biodiversity conservation, its sustainable use and its loss prevention. By convening esteemed legal and public policy experts, judges, negotiators, professors and practitioners from around the world that are committed to implementing the GBF, BLGD 2024 seeks to catalyse knowledge exchange and co-generate new biodiversity law and governance scholarship, insights and approaches, facilitating new dialogue and partnerships. The symposium further aims to strengthen capacity and collaboration among the biodiversity law and governance community of practice to implement the GBF and COP outcomes, supporting achievement of the world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

BLGD 2024 Themes
This year’s symposium will focus on the following key themes, which have been identified in consultation with the BLGI Programme Committee based on the vision and goals to enhance ambition and enable action set by Colombia as the CBD COP16 Presidency:

• Advancing legal elements of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: COP 16 will be the first Biodiversity COP since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at COP 15 in December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. Parties are expected to show how their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) have aligned to the framework. Much can be learned from law and governance reform approaches that acknowledge Indigenous law and philosophies, and integrate the different value systems that nature embodies, in their implementation of the GBF. 
• Enhancing nature-based solutions, sustainable use of natural resources and synergies with biodiversity and other treaties: Many international treaties and processes are key for biodiversity and ecosystems, including the CITES, the Convention on Migratory Species, the Ramsar Wetlands Convention, the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement, the UNCCD, the oceans and water conventions, human rights covenants and accords, trade and investment agreements, and also indigenous treaties. Parties to the CBD and international organizations must strengthen and improve cooperation so as to enhance synergies and address intersections between regimes.  Indigenous treaties, including the new Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement (“IPETCA”), embody mechanisms to foster biodiversity and environmental stewardship while reaffirming the need for integrating legal pluralism into legal biodiversity frameworks and targets. In many countries, treaty usufructuary rights for hunting, trapping, fishing and harvesting give quasi-constitutional protection to Indigenous traditional territory and may help protect habitat for all living things within the ecosystems of the traditional territories. Indigenous hunters, trappers, fishers and harvesters live connected to the environment and their traditional knowledge in resource stewardship allows that resource to thrive. These rights can and will be supported through new strengthened strategic alliances in the coming years, and by good practice legislative reforms such as granting legal standing to rivers and other ecological systems and features. Myriad law and governance mechanisms can and shall be activated to scale up nature-based solutions, to support fair and sustainable biodiversity trade, to exponentially accelerate effective, high-impact biodiversity investment and financing on all levels, and to strengthen indigenous and local community engagement in conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems, worldwide. 
• Strengthening the effectiveness of the Nagoya Protocol and addressing genetic information: The Nagoya Protocol entered into force in 2014. Many lessons can be learned from recent national and regional Access and Benefit Sharing (“ABS”) agreements implementation and capacity building efforts. For these agreements to be truly equitable and fair, and agreements to be meaningful and accountable, these concepts should mean the same to all involved, providers and users alike. Policy and regulatory options for Digital Sequence Information (“DSI”) should be addressed and assessed through the lenses of equity and fairness, allowing for providers’ Free and Prior Informed Consent. Digitalisation of genetic resources potentially shifts power balances, so its effects on ABS must be monitored to achieve an equitable and fair sharing of benefits and greater Protocol effectiveness. It is thus imperative that negotiators conclude unequivocally on a text and mechanisms, such as experts’ committees and workshops, to provide clear guidance for providers and users of genetic resources, notably regarding governance structures. This will also impact subsequent negotiations on ABS and DSI under adjacent legal instruments, including UNCLOS and the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources. Finally, there is a need to involve and integrate Indigenous peoples’ voices in this discussion. Indigenous Intellectual property and Traditional Knowledge needs to be given not mere passing mention and continuous study, but real authority and control through effective mechanisms that recognize and extend beyond other limited concepts of Intellectual Property. The time-honored call for “Nothing about us without us” is crucial.

Venue
To reduce barriers and encourage global participation, this year’s Biodiversity Law and Governance Day will be held hybrid and online via Zoom. Registration will open in the coming weeks. 

Becoming a Partner or Sponsor
Government departments from Parties to the CBD, UNFCCC or the Paris Agreement, UN bodies, other intergovernmental organisations, academic and other institutions, jurists, law firms and associations, businesses and civil society are invited to join as partners or sponsors of the Biodiversity Law and Governance Initiative. The continued support of our diverse network of government, intergovernmental, university, private sector and civil society partners, as well as law firms and associations, is very important and new partners are always welcome.

Partners and sponsors are especially sought to provide participation grants which can enable more least developed and highly climate vulnerable country delegates, academics, students and other stakeholders to engage more equitably in BLGD 2024, and to cover communications, reporting, volunteer coordination and other costs of hosting events. 

Key Reasons to Become a Partner in Biodiversity Law and Governance Day 2024

• Share knowledge, research, innovations and experience
• Network and open opportunities for new collaborations
• Learn from leading research and initiatives in the field
• Connect with specialist law and governance support
• Access innovative legal and institutional tools to advance ambitious biodiversity protection 

CBD Parties, Observers, institutions or other stakeholders interested in becoming a partner or sponsor of Biodiversity  Law and Governance Day 2024 are asked to complete this Google form at their earliest convenience. Potential partners or sponsors are welcome to contact the BLGI Secretariat by email writing to the BLGI Coordinator, Dr. Daniel Ruiz De Garibay Ponce daniel.ruiz@apu.edu.my with any questions or to discuss collaboration.

Proposing a Session
Any government, institution or consortium of partners is welcome to submit a brief proposal for a 70-minute concurrent session at Biodiversity Law and Governance Day 2024. All session proposals must be submitted by 10 September 2024 and include the following:

1. Session Title: The proposed title should be short, approximately 8 words, and should start with an action verb, such as advancing, linking, governing, addressing, etc.
2. Session Contact/Host: This individual is the primary contact for all communications between the BLGI Secretariat and BLGD organisers and the session speakers and is
   responsible for sharing all logistical information with the speakers.
3. Convening Organisation(s): These are the organisations that will be involved in hosting the session and can include, but are not limited to, the organisations with which the proposed speakers are affiliated.
4. Session Description: A high-level description of the session in paragraph form, no bullet points. (100-word maximum)
5. Session Theme: Select the theme most related to your session submission. Additional information regarding each theme can be found above under “BLGD 2024 Themes.
   – Theme 1: Advancing legal elements of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
   – Theme 2: Enhancing nature-based solutions, sustainable use of natural resources and synergies with biodiversity and other treaties.
   – Theme 3: Strengthening the effectiveness of the Nagoya Protocol and addressing genetic information. 
6. Session Type Preference: Select your preferred session type from among the following. Your preference will be taken into consideration by the Programme Committee.
   – Experts Panel (experts present their views on a topic, followed by a moderated discussion and attendee Q&A).
   – Legal Roundtable (conversation between speakers on a topic, without slides or presentation materials, followed by attendee Q&A)
   – Participatory Workshop (interactive discussion focused on joint exploration of a topic, followed by attendee Q&A)
7.  Proposed Chairs and Speakers: Provide the name, contact information, title, and affiliation of all proposed speakers and identify which of the speakers will chair the session.
8. Proposed Discussants: Provide the name, contact information, title, and affiliation of all proposed discussants. The discussants commit to being online during the session, but will only present during the session if one of the speakers drops out at the last minute. The discussants also ask the first questions during the Q&A segment at the end of each session.
9. Proposed Cost Share: To offset the costs of hosting this special global event, session hosts are asked to help find sponsors for their session. The small contributions by each successful session proponent cover law student support for registration, coordination, website and social media engagement, and reporting from the event. They also cover post design and outreach, communications, programme design and formatting, zoom licence fees and bookkeeping. Please provide the amount your session is willing to contribute. If the organisations for your proposed session are unable to contribute to this cost-share, please select “request Programme Committee member sponsor.”

Proposed sessions that plan to share the work of hosts across the global CBD community and/or offer launching or convening points for ongoing programmes are especially encouraged.

To propose a session during BLGD 2024, please complete this Google form by the deadline. If you have trouble accessing the form, please email the BLGI Coordinator Dr. Daniel Ruiz De Garibay Ponce <daniel.ruiz@apu.edu.my> using the subject line “BLGD 2024 Session Proposal.”

Proposed sessions will be reviewed by the BLGI COP16 Programme Committee, and proponents may be asked to combine their proposals with others to co-host a session, in order to ensure that more organisations can host events. As mentioned above, successful proponents shall be asked to contribute modest cost-shares in order to ensure the success of the entire event. The BLGI Programme Committee has committed to sponsoring two proposals from least developed and highly climate vulnerable countries and institutions, and no cost-share would be required by these two sponsored sessions.

Timeline
Parties, Observer organisations and others are invited to submit session proposals via this Google Form link by 10 September 2024 (Tuesday). Successful session hosts and co-hosts will then be notified of the Programme Committee’s decision via email.

Evaluation Criteria
Proposed sessions are evaluated by the BLGI COP29 Programme Committee. During the selection process, the Programme Committee will take into consideration, among other factors, the following:

• whether the proposed session has a clear linkage to one or more of the key themes for BLGD 2024;
• the significance of the substantive topic for the evolving global biodiversity law and governance agenda;
• the global nature of the proposed session, considering the importance of regional equity, diversity and inclusion, including gender balance; and
• the rigour and clarity of the session proposal.

Contact Us
For any questions, please email the BLGI Coordinator Dr. Daniel Ruiz De Garibay Ponce <daniel.ruiz@apu.edu.my> , cc-ing CISDL Senior Manager, Adv. Tejas Rao <tejas.rao@cisdl.org>

More About the Symposium
Biodiversity Law and Governance Day 2024 builds on a series of special events co-hosted by key partners from the Biodiversity Law and Governance Initiative (BLGI) during the CBD biodiversity conferences since the COP13 in Cancun, Mexico, to mobilise the international law and governance community to help implement the CBD and most recently, the GBF in the context of the global Sustainable Development Goals. This global international symposium aims to facilitate meaningful dialogue between COP delegates, observers and stakeholders, also keen students, with an interest in national and international law and governance related to biodiversity protection, including government representatives and leaders, leading international and domestic legal practitioners, and renowned legal experts.

Warmest thanks are due to the past and present partners and co-hosts of Biodiversity Law and Governance Day.

About the Biodiversity Law and Governance Initiative (BLGI)
The Biodiversity Law and Governance Initiative (BLGI) is a partnership, led by a coalition from across the global biodiversity law and governance community including university law and governance schools, expert institutes, international organisations, legal offices, law associations and firms, foundations and civil society organisations.

BLGI focuses on legal and institutional responses to the challenges facing biodiversity and seeks to complement and coordinate ongoing efforts in this field. The core activities of the BLGI are centred on three main pillars. First, the BLGI Secretariat organises and coordinates knowledge sharing events alongside the UNCBD processes and beyond. Second, the initiative provides support and outreach for the capacity building and biodiversity action efforts of its partners. The final pillar of the initiative focuses on involving students and young people from different regions in its activities so as to enhance long term capacity strengthening.