The Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity met on 15 December and accepted Colombia’s offer to host the next United Nations Biodiversity Conference, to be held from 21 October to 1 November 2024.
The Conference encompasses the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16), the Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and the Fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. It will include a high-level ministerial segment.
Photo Credit: Mr. Wilson Macdonald, Canada
On 26 October 2024 at COP16 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Cali, Parties and Observers to the CBD and other biodiversity accords convene experts, practitioners, scholars and stakeholders from law, governance and other fields, in order to scale up efforts to address the main drivers of biodiversity loss, implement the post 2020 Strategic Framework and the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through legal and institutional measures.
The 2024 Biodiversity Law & Governance Day seeks to facilitate dialogue, engagement and action to implement the CBD regime, engaging a growing global biodiversity law and governance community of practice. The Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) and partner universities, with guidance from leaders in the Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat (SCBD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UN-Environment), International Union for the Conservation of Nature World Commission for Environmental Law (IUCN-WCEL), International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and other organisations are honoured to bring Parties, UN bodies and agencies, intergovernmental organizations, academia, private sector actors and civil society together, building upon the success of the inaugural 2016 Biodiversity Law and Governance Day (BLGD) held in Cancun alongside CBD CoP13, the 2018 BLGD held in Sharm-El-Sheik alongside CBD CoP14, and the 2022 BLGD held in Montreal alongside CBD CoP15.
By tracking trends, sharing knowledge and practical experiences, and building capacity, BLGD 2024 advances legal elements of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework; strengthens the effectiveness of CBD and its protocols; and enhances synergies between biodiversity treaties and other international regimes.
See the full BLGD 2024 Programme below: