Decision COP 16/31

The Conference of the Parties,

Recalling its decision 15/5 of 19 December 2022, by which it adopted a monitoring framework for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and established the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Indicators for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,

Recalling also its decisions 15/4, 15/6, 15/7, 15/8 of 19 December 2022, 15/10 of 10 December 2022, 15/11, 15/13 of 19 December 2022 and 15/22 of 10 December 2022,

Noting with appreciation the work conducted by the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Indicators and the inputs from or work of the Technical Expert Group on Financial Reporting, the Informal Advisory Group on Technical and Scientific Cooperation, the Ad Hoc Open-ended Intersessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on Benefit-sharing from the Use of Digital Sequence Information on Genetic Resources and the Liaison Group on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety,

Noting with appreciation also the contributions of international organizations and initiatives to the work of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Indicators, as well as the work of Parties and national institutions to maintain national databases and data collection relevant to the monitoring of the Framework,

Noting with appreciation further the work under the Bern process to improve collaboration on the development of indicators related to biodiversity,

Recalling the previous work on indicators in relation to indigenous peoples and local communities, decision XIII/28 of 17 December 2016 on indicators for the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and decision 15/5 on the monitoring framework for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,

Underscoring the critical importance of engaging indigenous peoples and local communities and taking into consideration their traditional knowledge, innovations and practices in the review of progress in the implementation of the Framework,

Recognizing the contributions of community-based monitoring and information systems to improving global biodiversity knowledge, data and information, while acknowledging the need to engage indigenous peoples and local communities in the development and management of those information systems, as well as the need for enhanced international cooperation to address technical and financial gaps in developing countries,

Noting the development of biodiversity and health-related indicators further to paragraph 2 (c) of decision 15/29 of 19 December 2022 and of indicators for the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation further to decisions 15/5 and 15/13,

Noting with appreciation the financial contributions from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the European Union, which enabled the work of the expert groups, the contribution from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for hosting an expert meeting on indicator 7.2, the financial contributions from the Government of the United Kingdom for the indicator studies on access and benefit-sharing and private sector finance, and the financial contribution from the Government of Canada for the development of the explanatory guidance and gap analysis, as well as the in-kind support from the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre in support of the work of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Indicators,

Recalling paragraph 13 of decision 15/6, in which the Conference of the Parties requested all Parties to use headline indicators and to provide responses on binary questions, as set out in the monitoring framework, 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 the provision in that paragraph to countries, in particular developing countries, in the light of the fact that not all indicators were ready at the time and of the need for capacity-building and development on the headline indicators,

Recognizing that an indicator for the Gender Plan of Action (2023a2030) was developed in response to the adoption of the Framework,

Recognizing also that the capacities for the collection and generation of data, maintenance of databases and processing of biodiversity-relevant data are uneven and that developing countries require support in terms of means of implementation in that regard, including through international cooperation, resource mobilization, information infrastructure, capacity-building and development, technical and scientific cooperation and technology transfer,

Recognizing further the importance of strengthening national monitoring, reporting, review and information systems and that those systems are the primary source of information for monitoring the implementation of the Framework, including monitoring at the ecosystem level, in line with national circumstances and priorities,

1. Endorses the technical updates to the headline and binary indicators in the monitoring framework for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, as contained in annex I to the present decision;

2. Takes note of the optional disaggregations of the headline indicators and voluntary component and complementary indicators in the monitoring framework for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, as contained in annex II to the present decision, noting that their use is optional and subject to national circumstances and priorities;

3. Adopts the list of binary indicator questions contained in annex III to the present decision;

4. Welcomes the guidance on the monitoring framework provided by the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Indicators for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and invites Parties to make use of the guidance, as appropriate, in accordance with national circumstances and relevant international obligations, including the metadata for the headline and binary indicators, the approaches to taking section C of the Framework into consideration when implementing the monitoring framework, and the overarching guidance on the implementation of the monitoring framework and on gaps and opportunities;

5. Takes note of the current status of development of the headline indicators and the current status of guidance related to the consideration of section C of the Framework contained in tables 1 and 2 of annex II to document CBD/SBSTTA/26/2, as prepared by the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Indicators;

6. Notes with appreciation that the monitoring framework provides good coverage of the overall scope of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;

7. Decides that the reporting burden and the technical and financial constraints faced by Parties, in particular developing countries, in the implementation of the monitoring framework need to be considered in the further development of the headline, component and complementary indicators;

8. Also decides that further work is needed to develop component indicators and their methodology on subsidies harmful to biodiversity, taking into account the optional sectorial disaggregation of headline indicator 18.2, as well as positive incentives to promote the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity;

9. Requests the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, at a meeting held before the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, to review updated metadata for headline indicators, as well as the list of component and complementary indicators in decision 15/5 that have met the criteria for inclusion in the monitoring framework since the adoption of that decision, for use by Parties in their eighth national reports;

10. Invites international and other relevant organizations, indigenous peoples and local communities, women and youth to support Parties in the implementation of the monitoring framework at the national level;

11. Recalls that the validation of global data by each Party is included in the reporting template for the national reports submitted under the Convention on Biological Diversity;

12. Welcomes the ongoing work on monitoring conducted under multilateral environmental agreements and relevant initiatives, and invites the secretariats of multilateral environmental agreements and relevant initiatives to share information on relevant monitoring initiatives with the Executive Secretary of the Convention;

13. Highlights the importance of mainstreaming the indicators across relevant processes, while stressing the need to ensure consistency with existing mandates, and invites the secretariats and governing bodies of multilateral environmental and biodiversity-related agreements, financial institutions and other processes to consider the indicators contained in annexes I and II to the present decision, as appropriate;

14. Urges Parties and other Governments, including local and subnational governments, to take section C of the Framework into consideration when implementing the monitoring framework, including by disaggregating the headline indicators by indigenous peoples and local communities, sex, age, persons with disabilities and other relevant groups and by ecosystem type, where appropriate, using relevant component, complementary and national and local indicators relevant to section C and traditional knowledge indicators, including by strengthening community-based monitoring systems, where relevant and applicable;

15. Encourages Parties, other Governments, subnational governments, local authorities and relevant organizations to provide support, including resources, for community-based monitoring and information systems, including in the use of data from those systems in the implementation of the monitoring framework, in accordance with national circumstances and priorities;

16. Invites private philanthropic and other relevant organizations to share data on biodiversity-related finance, in alignment with the monitoring framework, where possible;

17. Encourages Parties and other Governments, including local and subnational governments, to take a consistent approach at the national level to monitoring ecosystems and reporting data across the goals and targets of the Framework, based on national ecosystem classifications;

18. Invites Parties to make use of the Global Ecosystem Typology, or an equivalent methodology, and cross-reference their national ecosystem data with levels 2 and 3 of that typology, subject to national circumstances and capabilities;

19. Urges Parties and other Governments, and invites local and subnational governments, to strengthen their monitoring systems, subject to the availability of the necessary means of implementation, involving all relevant institutions, indigenous peoples and local communities, women, youth and relevant stakeholders in a participatory manner, with support, where appropriate, from international organizations and initiatives, in particular to facilitate the reporting against indicators in the seventh national report, due in February 2026;

20. Urges developed country Parties, and invites other Parties in a position to do so, to enhance international cooperation, including by providing adequate, timely and predictable financial resources, capacity-building and development, technical and scientific cooperation and technology transfer, to address the technical and financial challenges faced by developing country Parties in the implementation of the monitoring framework;

21. Invites other Governments to enhance international cooperation, including by providing adequate, timely and predictable financial resources, capacity-building and development, technical and scientific cooperation and technology transfer, to address the technical and financial challenges faced by developing country Parties in the implementation of the monitoring framework;

22. Requests the Global Environment Facility to provide adequate, timely and predictable financial resources to contribute to the development and implementation of national biodiversity monitoring systems to support the reporting efforts of Parties, in response to requests by all eligible Parties, and according to its mandate;

23. Invites Parties and other Governments to make use of the Sustainable Development Goal indicators and other globally available data, where relevant and where national data are not available, taking into account regular updating of national data and their validation by Parties to complement data in national monitoring systems;

24. Requests the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, at a meeting held before the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, to review the needs of Parties in the implementation of the monitoring framework and consider how to address any technical or capacity gaps;

25. Encourages Parties and relevant organizations, including the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership, indigenous peoples and local communities, women and youth, to exchange knowledge and build capacity related to the headline, component and complementary indicators and to the consideration of section C of the Framework when implementing the monitoring framework;

26. Requests the regional and subregional technical and scientific cooperation support centres and the global coordination entity to provide support for capacity-building and development for the implementation of the monitoring framework, on a demand-driven basis;

27. Requests the Executive Secretary to support inclusive and participatory processes to facilitate the operationalization of the monitoring framework, including by using, where relevant, the regional and subregional technical and scientific cooperation support centres and the Global Knowledge Support Service for Biodiversity, by:

28. Also requests the Executive Secretary to ensure that the guidance on the monitoring framework is easily accessible alongside the reporting template to support Parties in their national reporting processes;

29. Further requests the Executive Secretary to prepare an analysis of the usage of the headline, binary, component and complementary indicators and of national indicators in national reports and to share information with the Ad Hoc Scientific and Technical Advisory Group for the Preparation of the Global Report on Collective Progress in the Implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;

30. Requests the Executive Secretary:

31. Also requests the Executive Secretary to make the information compiled further to the requests in paragraph 30 available to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice for its consideration at a meeting held before the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, and to consider paragraph 7 of the present decision when undertaking that work;

32. Further requests the Executive Secretary to make any information received in response to paragraph 12 available to Parties through the clearing-house mechanism of the Convention.