Clearing-House Mechanism

Clearing-House Mechanism // Strategic actions
Tuesday // 6.10.2025

Strategic actions

The table below is the list of Goals, outcomes and strategic actions of the programme of work from the "Decision 16/9 A and B: Clearing-house mechanism and knowledge management" (document CBD/COP/DEC/16/9).

Goal 1

To promote and facilitate technical and scientific cooperation
Ref. Outcomes and Strategic actions

1.1. Mechanisms to facilitate technical and scientific cooperation at the global, regional, subregional and national levels are developed or strengthened.

1.1.A. Develop or strengthen collaborative platforms to promote technical and scientific cooperation, technology transfer and innovation.
1.1.B. Facilitate events for collaboration and the sharing of knowledge, best practices and lessons learned.
1.1.C. Facilitate the establishment or strengthening of communities of practice and other knowledge exchange platforms and initiatives, including traditional knowledge, innovations and practices, where culturally appropriate, and with the free, prior and informed consent of traditional knowledge holders, to enable the sharing of relevant experiences, expertise and know-how.
1.1.D. Establish or strengthen mechanisms to promote joint research programmes and joint ventures for the development of technologies and solutions.

1.2. Matchmaking among Parties with specific technical and scientific needs and other Parties or institutions able to provide the necessary support is facilitated.

1.2.A. Strengthen tools and processes to enable Parties and stakeholders to identify, prioritize and communicate their biodiversity-related technical and scientific needs and requests for assistance.
1.2.B. Take stock of expertise, tools, technologies and other relevant technical and scientific assets that can be shared with Parties.
1.2.C. Develop or strengthen tools and services, including online platforms to facilitate matchmaking among Parties that need support with stakeholders that can provide that support.
1.2.D. Identify, map, link and promote existing matchmaking services at the global, regional, subregional and national levels.

Goal 2

To facilitate the exchange of information
Ref. Outcomes and Strategic actions

2.1. The central portal of the clearing-house mechanism is providing effective information services to facilitate the implementation of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

2.1.A. Develop, implement and promote the user workspace in the central portal of the clearing-house mechanism to enable Parties and relevant stakeholders to contribute information easily, keep in contact, share ideas and work together.
2.1.B. Further develop and implement the online submission system to enable Parties and relevant stakeholders to submit information on their implementation of the Convention and the Framework.
2.1.C. Further develop and improve the user interface of the central portal of the clearing-house mechanism to make the data, information and knowledge available in the portal easily discoverable and accessible.
2.1.D. Further develop tools for making the national clearing-house mechanisms and the information systems of partner organizations interoperable and automatically displaying relevant information from the central clearing-house mechanism.
2.1.E. Further develop data aggregation tools to harness information from the national clearing-house mechanisms and information systems of partner organizations.
2.1.F. Implement other information services, as requested by the Conference of the Parties.

2.2. Systems for exchanging, integrating and visualizing information are strengthened.

2.2.A. Further develop and enhance the Convention website, including its design, functionality, accessibility and user-friendliness.
2.2.B. Further develop and update common formats for collecting, organizing and sharing information and metadata to standardize the structure and organization of information.
2.2.C. Further develop or modify controlled vocabularies, taxonomies and ontologies to facilitate information-sharing in a consistent and standardized manner at the global, regional, subregional and national levels.
2.2.D. Further strengthen data-sharing mechanisms, including the application programming interface, to facilitate interoperability of relevant information systems with the central portal of the clearing-house mechanism, the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House, the Biosafety Clearing-House and national clearing-house mechanism portals.
2.2.E. Strengthen data visualization tools, such as dashboards and interactive maps, to enable the presentation of complex information in easy-to-understand formats
2.2.F. Strengthen the capacity of the Secretariat to further develop and sustain the central clearing-house mechanism.
2.2.G. Provide additional guidance and training to Parties and stakeholders on using the central portal of the clearing-house mechanism effectively for exchanging information.

Goal 3

To support planning, monitoring, reporting and review
Ref. Outcomes and Strategic actions

3.1. Tools and mechanisms to facilitate and support planning, monitoring, reporting and review of progress in the implementation of the Framework and the Convention are developed or strengthened.

3.1.A. Further develop and operationalize the online reporting tool to enable Parties to report progress towards the achievement of the goals and targets of the Framework.
3.1.B. Further develop and operationalize the decision-tracking tool to track progress in implementing decisions of the Conference of Parties.

3.2. National clearing-house mechanisms are strengthened and are facilitating the implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans effectively.

3.2.A. Prepare or update an implementation strategy for the national clearing-house mechanism as a component of national biodiversity strategies and action plans.
3.2.B. Establish or strengthen institutional structures, including national focal points, and processes to enable national clearing-house mechanisms to support national biodiversity strategies and action plans and the monitoring of progress towards achieving national and global targets.
3.2.C. Strengthen systems for information exchange, including through the development of links and interoperability between the national clearing-house mechanism and the central portal, and other networks and databases.
3.2.D. Promote the use of the national clearing-house mechanism as a tool for facilitating dialogue with relevant stakeholders, in line with the whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.
3.2.E. Develop or strengthen the information infrastructure for national clearing house mechanisms, including user interface design, interoperability services, vocabularies and taxonomies, metadata standards and common reporting formats and standards, aligned with the standards of the central portal of the clearing-house mechanism.
3.2.F. Further develop and strengthen national clearing-house mechanism portals using the Bioland tool or other solutions in response to the needs of users and relevant technological developments.
3.2.G. Publish and promote tool kits, technical specifications, guidelines and training material to assist Parties in the use of new information technology and systems.
3.2.H. Develop or strengthen capacity to use modern digital technologies, including natural language processing, machine learning and other artificial intelligence tools.
3.2.I. Facilitate the mobilization of financial resources for strengthening national clearing-house mechanisms.
3.2.J. Continue the process of recognizing and granting awards to the Parties that have made the most significant progress in the establishment or further development of their national clearing-house mechanisms.

Goal 4

To facilitate networking and collaboration among Parties and partners
Ref. Outcomes and Strategic actions

4.1. The network of global, regional, subregional and national partner organizations and networks is expanded and strengthened.

4.1.A. Identify, map and publicize existing global, regional, subregional and national networks, communities of practice and partnerships related to biodiversity.
4.1.B. Strengthen structures, processes and platforms to link existing biodiversity networks, partnerships and initiatives.
4.1.B. Promote and facilitate cross-disciplinary interactions to leverage expertise, good practices and ideas derived from diverse networks.

4.2. Partners are actively networking and exchanging information, expertise, ideas and other resources through the clearing-house mechanism network.

4.2.A. Further develop and update tools and procedures for linking the central clearing-house mechanism with relevant organizations and information networks.
4.2.B. Further develop tools to facilitate networking and technical exchanges with partner organizations through the central portal and the national clearing-house mechanisms.
4.2.C. Maintain the database and network of practitioners through the central portal and the national clearing-house mechanisms.