Decision COP XIII/25

The Conference of the Parties,

1. Adopts the modus operandi of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation as annexed to the present decision;

2. Takes note of the progress made in the development of a voluntary peer review mechanism, especially the development of a draft methodology for the review, and requests the Executive Secretary, subject to the availability of resources, to facilitate the further testing, and development of the methodology, including its application through a pilot phase, and to report on progress, including information on the cost of the pilot phase, to the Subsidiary Body on Implementation at its second meeting;

3. Invites Parties to develop, enhance and make use of national processes to review the measures that they have taken for the implementation of the Convention and related strategic plans, including, as appropriate, participatory approaches and engagement of indigenous peoples and local communities, civil society, women and youth, to identify obstacles that may exist to such implementation, and to share this information through the clearing-house mechanism;

4. Requests the Executive Secretary, subject to the availability of resources, to prepare, in consultation with Parties and relevant stakeholders, information on the obstacles identified in paragraph 3 above, as well as to identify effective practices related to the implementation of national and global targets, based on national reports, including consideration of possible elements of mechanisms for review of implementation, such as the voluntary peer review mechanism for national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and taking into account the views expressed by Parties and observers at the first meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation and additional views provided by Parties and observers, including indigenous peoples and local communities, to be considered by the Subsidiary Body on Implementation at its second meeting;

5. Also requests the Executive Secretary to further develop the decision-tracking tool, taking into account any views or comments provided by Parties and other Governments, and to continue reviewing the decisions of the Conference of the Parties taken from the first to the seventh meetings, as well as the decisions of the tenth and eleventh meetings, and to provide the Subsidiary Body on Implementation with an update at its second meeting;

6. Emphasizes the importance of ensuring complementarity and avoiding duplication in its requests to its subsidiary bodies, as specified in paragraph 3 of the terms of reference of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation; 

7. Requests the Executive Secretary to identify options to strengthen processes for integrating matters related to indigenous peoples and local communities into the work of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation in accordance with the process referred to in decision XIII/26, paragraph 3.