Decision COP 15/6
Mechanisms for planning, monitoring, reporting and review
Recalling further decision 14/29, in which it recognized that implementation by Parties and underlying commitments needed to be strengthened to bring the global community on a path towards achieving the 2050 Vision laid out in the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020, emphasizing that national reports, provided for in Article 26 of the Convention, continue to be a core element for reviewing progress in implementation as part of the multidimensional review approach, and recognizing that elements of the multidimensional review approach under the Convention should be technically sound, objective, transparent, collaborative and constructive, and aim to facilitate enhanced efforts by Parties,
Recalling that national biodiversity strategies and action plans are the main instrument for implementing the Convention at the national level and that national reports are the main instrument for monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the Convention and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,
1. Adopts an enhanced multidimensional approach to planning, monitoring, reporting and review with a view to enhancing implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, comprising:
(a) National biodiversity strategies and action plans, revised or updated in alignment with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its goals and targets as the main vehicle for implementation of the Framework, including national targets communicated in a standardized format by the Conference of the Parties at its sixteenth meeting;
(b) National reports submitted in 2026 and 2029, including the headline and, as appropriate, other indicators adopted in decision 15/5;
(c) Global analysis of information in national biodiversity strategies and action plans, including national targets to assess the contribution towards the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework considered by the Conference of the Parties at its sixteenth meeting and at each subsequent meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
(d) Global review of collective progress in the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including the means of implementation, based on national reports and, as appropriate, other sources, to be considered by the Conference of the Parties at its seventeenth and nineteenth meetings;
3. Also decides that the enhanced multidimensional approach to planning, monitoring, reporting and review will be undertaken in a facilitative, non-intrusive and non-punitive manner, respecting national sovereignty and avoiding placing undue burden on Parties, in particular developing countries;
6. Requests Parties to revise and update their national biodiversity strategies and action plans in accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, following the guidance provided in annex I to the present decision, aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its goals and targets, including those related to means of implementation, and to submit them through the clearinghouse mechanism by the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
7. Requests Parties not in a position to submit their revised national biodiversity strategies and action plans by the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to communicate national targets reflecting, as applicable, all the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including those related to all means of implementation, in accordance with the reporting template provided in annex I, as a standalone submission, by the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, in advance of the full submission of the national biodiversity strategy and action plan;
8. Urges all Parties to use the headline indicators, supplemented by component and complementary indicators and other national indicators, in relevant national planning processes, including national biodiversity strategies and action plans, according to their national circumstances;
9. Encourages Parties to adopt the revised or updated national biodiversity strategies and action plans as policy and/or legal instruments and to mainstream them (or elements thereof) with broader strategies and plans, such as national sustainable development plans, national development plans, poverty reduction strategies and other relevant national sectoral and cross-sectoral plans, in line with national circumstances and priorities.
11. Requests Parties to submit their seventh national report by 28 February 2026 and their eighth national report by 30 June 2029, to enable the preparation of the global reviews, as per Article 26 of the Convention, using the template provided in annex II, recognizing the specific challenges faced by developing country Parties in preparing and submitting their national reports in a timely manner, and the need for enhanced international cooperation to support them accordingly;
12. Encourages Parties to collaborate, where appropriate, with other reporting processes, including the Sustainable Development Goals and relevant multilateral environment agreement reporting, including by using a modular data reporting tool, such as DART, on a voluntary basis;
13. Requests all Parties to use headline indicators and to provide responses on binary yes/no questions, as set out in the monitoring framework of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted in decision 15/5, in their national reports, and supplemented, as appropriate, by optional component and complementary indicators also included therein and other national indicators providing flexibility in the progressive implementation of this paragraph to countries, particularly developing countries, in the light of the fact that not all indicators are currently ready and of the need for capacity-building and development on the headline indicators;
15. Decides to consider, at its sixteenth meeting and at each subsequent meeting of the Conference of the Parties, a global analysis of the information provided pursuant to paragraphs 6 and 7 of the present decision, to assess the contribution towards the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;
16. Also decides to conduct a global review of the collective progress in the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including the means of implementation, at its seventeenth and nineteenth meetings, based on national reports and, as appropriate, other sources of information;
17. Further decides to mandate the Subsidiary Body on Implementation to develop the concrete procedures for the global review mentioned in paragraph 16 above, including on the use of indicators, and to prepare the review for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its sixteenth meeting;
18. Requests the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, at its twenty-fifth meeting, to provide advice on relevant scientific, technical and technological inputs that should inform the global review mentioned in paragraph 16, for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Implementation;
19. Decides that the Conference of the Parties will consider and provide any additional recommendations, as necessary, at future meetings of the Conference of the Parties, on the basis of the inputs received pursuant to paragraphs 15 and 16, with a view to achieving the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;
20. Recognizes that Parties may take the outcome of the global review into account in future revisions and implementation of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans, including the provision of means of implementation to developing country Parties, with a view to improving actions and efforts, as appropriate;
23. Encourages Parties:
(c) To enable the full and effective participation and engagement of women, indigenous peoples and local communities, youth, civil society organizations, academia, the private sector, all levels of government and stakeholders from all other relevant sectors, in all levels of development and implementation of the national biodiversity strategies and action plans, as well as in the preparation of the seventh and eighth national reports;
(d) To ensure consultations in order to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples and local communities, as appropriate, in their engagement and participation in the updating and revision of national biodiversity strategies and action plans and national targets, with respect to measures that may affect them.
25. Takes note of the core reporting elements for sharing voluntary non-State actor commitments that contribute to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to be included in the online platform for the Sharm El-Sheikh to Kunming and Montreal Action Agenda for Nature and People;
26. Invites indigenous peoples and local communities, subnational governments, cities and other local authorities, intergovernmental organizations, other multilateral environmental agreements, nongovernmental organizations, women, youth, research organizations, the business and finance community and representatives of sectors related to or dependent on biodiversity, to develop, on a voluntary basis, commitments contributing to national biodiversity strategies and action plans and to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and to share them through the online platform for the Sharm ElSheikh to Kunming and Montreal Action Agenda for Nature and People;
27. Requests Parties, in accordance with Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention, and invites other Governments and relevant organizations, to provide financial and technical support for enabling the implementation of the enhanced multidimensional approach to planning, monitoring, reporting and review of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework described in the present decision, especially for developing country Parties, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States;
28. Invites relevant international, regional, subregional or national organizations to support Parties in updating and revising national biodiversity strategies and action plans and in the preparation of national reports, including through the provision of relevant data, support for implementation of the monitoring framework and information and capacity-development activities;
29. Requests the Executive Secretary to support the operationalization of the enhanced multidimensional approach to planning, monitoring, reporting and review set out in paragraph 1 of the present decision, including, as appropriate, by:
(b) Supporting the Subsidiary Body on Implementation in the further development and\or piloting of the template contained in annex II to the present decision, and of core elements for reporting of non-State actors, where needed, and in an inclusive and transparent manner;
(c) Supporting the Subsidiary Body on Implementation in the further development and piloting of a modus operandi of an open-ended forum for voluntary country review, which may include possible expert assisted reviews;
(h) Compiling views from Parties on the concrete procedures for the global review mentioned in paragraph 16 of the present decision, to support the Subsidiary Body on Implementation in the development of these procedures;
(j) Coordinating and collaborating with relevant partners to provide necessary capacity building and development and other support, in particular to developing countries, to improve planning, monitoring, reporting and review;
30. Welcomes the financial and in-kind contributions, including from the Japan Biodiversity Fund, to initiatives intended to contribute to the support of the updating or revision of national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and invites donors, Governments and multilateral and bilateral agencies to make funds available to support planning, monitoring, reporting and review, in support of the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including for the development and strengthening of national monitoring and information management systems.
