Fresh round of intergovernmental negotiations on biodiversity begins in Rome

PRESS RELEASE 

Fresh round of intergovernmental negotiations on biodiversity begins in Rome

The Sixth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation constitutes an important milestone towards COP 17 in Yerevan  
 

• Delegates will consider an analysis of submissions received from Parties to the Convention, focusing on how countries are meeting the ambition of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) at the national level including through national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs).
• Other implementation aspects on the agenda include strengthening gender-responsive approaches by implementing the CBD’s Gender Plan of Action, various critical aspects of biodiversity finance including the relationship between debt and biodiversity, capacity building and development, and cooperation with international organizations and other Multilateral Environmental Agreements.
   

Rome, 16 February 2026— The sixth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI-6) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) opens today and runs for four days at the Headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome. Observers, including representatives of indigenous peoples and local communities, women and youth, will attend the meeting.

The SBI meets between Conferences of the Parties (COPs) to undertake work in the areas of reviewing and enhancing implementation, strengthening the enabling conditions and effectiveness of the operations of the CBD.

“I am confident that with the continued commitment of the Parties to the CBD, this meeting will deliver progress needed to sustain national efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss across the globe,” said Clarissa Souza Della Nina of Brazil, Chair of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI). “This is a time for acceleration of the implementation of the Convention, including the KMGBF, and the task of SBI is to enable it.”

The meeting outcomes will pave the way for the 2026 United Nations Biodiversity Conference, including COP 17 of the CBD and the Meetings of Parties to the Cartagena Protocol and to the Nagoya Protocol, COP-MOP12 and COP-MOP-6, respectively. The focus at SBI-6 is to help bring Parties closer to agreement on aspects pertaining to global biodiversity financing, the Gender Plan of Action on Biodiversity, closing technological, technical and institutional capacity gaps, international cooperation and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, among other issues to be addressed in Yerevan. At COP 17, the Parties to the CBD will notably undertake the first global review of collective progress in the implementation of the KMGBF.  

“One year after the conclusion of the resumed session of COP 16 here in Rome, and looking ahead to COP 17, we owe it to the world to ensure that our intergovernmental meetings in this marathon-year deliver real progress towards accelerating national action guided by the KMGBF,” said Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the CBD. “I urge Parties to submit their National Reports on time so that we can have a robust first global review guiding action by all stakeholders in the race to 2030.”

Under the CBD, the 7th National Reports are due for submission on 28 February 2026. They constitute a primary source of information for the global review, complementing data contained in National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and National Targets submitted by the Parties after the adoption of the KMGBF at COP 15 in December 2022.

One of the highlights of SBI-6 will be the analysis that the CBD Secretariat conducted based on 51 NBSAPS and 130 batches of National Targets submitted by Parties after COP 15. The analysis reveals a mixed picture. For instance, while one third of NBSAPs were formally approved at the highest political level, fewer than half indicate how actors other than national governments, such as indigenous peoples and local communities, youth, women and the private sector, will participate in what is expected to be a whole-of-society implementation endeavor.  

Furthermore, several KMGBF targets encompassing socioeconomic dimensions—essential to the transformative change that success requires—are not addressed at the same level as those pertaining to conservation. The fact that few Parties set national targets that address at least half of the elements within any global target suggests a discrepancy between the global ambition of the KMGBF and what the countries have set out to achieve at the national level.

As part of the midterm review of the implementation of the Gender Plan of Action 2023-2030, delegates at SBI-6 will consider gaps in gender action revealed by the analysis of national submissions, including the fact that only a quarter of Parties are taking steps to involve women’s groups in developing their NBSAPs, and that only 12 per cent indicated their intention to involve them in the future. Ensuring the full, equitable, meaningful and informed participation of women and girls, including those from indigenous peoples and local communities, is crucial for achieving Target 23 and the KMGBF as a whole.

Other aspects related to the means of implementation will take center stage in Rome. Progress will be sought in closing persistent capacity and knowledge gaps reported by many Parties, such as limited access to technology, institutional and governance challenges and other constraints impeding national implementation at the required pace. On a related matter, delegates will address cooperation with international organizations and will take stock of decisions and resolutions adopted by the governing bodies of other Multilateral Environmental Agreements in a bid to bolster the synergistic implementation of the KMGBF at country-level.

A potential major outcome of SBI-6 could stem from the discussion related to Article 4(4) of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing. Considering the divergence of views among Parties, delegates will seek agreement on whether and, if so, how the COP-MOP should recognize, acknowledge or otherwise address specialized international Access and Benefit-Sharing instruments, ensuring mutual supportiveness and coherence, among other key considerations.

Although the upcoming SBI-7 in August will see the bulk of the negotiations on biodiversity finance, the deliberations in Rome will be informed by a report on funding needs in the context of preparations for the ninth replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund, and by the preliminary findings of three thematic studies commissioned by the CBD Secretariat. The studies offer insights into the dynamics between sovereign debt and country-level biodiversity finance, the state of play in implementing voluntary safeguards in the deployment of financial mechanisms, and pathways for mutually supportive biodiversity and climate finance.

In addition to the formal agenda, there will be special sessions which can be viewed by the interested public. These include information sessions convened by Armenia, the host of the 2026 United Nations Biodiversity Conference in October, on the road to COP17; a session hosted by the Global Environment Facility (GEF); and another by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), host of the meeting. These sessions, along with the plenary, will be broadcast live on UN Web TV, the links to which can be found on the CBD’s SBI-6 website.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

A summary of the analysis of national submissions mentioned in the press release is offered in Section III of the pre-session document.

To keep track of submissions of NBSAPs and National Targets, National Reports and actors other than national Governments: refer to the Oline Reporting Tool (ORT): https://ort.cbd.int

Learn more about submissions by actors other than national governments: https://www.cbd.int/article/2025-submissions-actors-other-than-national-governments

About SBI: In 2016 The Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity established the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) to replace the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention. The four functions and core areas of work of SBI consist of: (a) review of progress in implementation; (b) strategic actions to enhance implementation; (c) strengthening means of implementation; and (d) operations of the convention and the Protocols.

About the KMGBF: The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) was adopted during the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) following a four year consultation and negotiation process. This historic Framework, which supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and builds on the Convention’s previous Strategic Plans, sets out an ambitious pathway to reach the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050. Among the Framework’s key elements are four goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030.