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Friday // 9.25.2026

Further Information on the Decision-Tracking Tool

 

Table of ContentsSearch using the Decision-Tracking Tool

 

Summary

Retirement of Decisions Prior to the Decision Tracking Tool

Pilot Phase (2016)

First Phase (2017-2021)

Second Phase (2022-Present)

Summary of Decisions and Recommendations relating to the DTT

List of Retired Decisions

 

Summary

The Decision Tracking Tool (DTT) was developed pursuant to a request by the Conference of the Parties in decision XII/28 paragraph 3(b) when it decided to halt the retirement of decisions. The objective of the tool is to facilitate the tracking of implementation of COP decisions, and to inform the drafting, negotiation and adoption of new decisions. The Secretariat has reported on progress and shown the tool at various intergovernmental meetings, and the COP has requested further work on it, including in decision 15/6 paragraph 29(e). The decisions and recommendations of COPs and Subsidiary Bodies pertaining to the DTT are summarized below. In the 2021 audit of the CBD Secretariat, the United Nations Board of Auditors recommended that the Secretariat accelerate the finalization of the DTT. 

The DTT has been developed and information uploaded and validated in several phases. It was first developed in 2016 through a pilot phase which tested the concept to review decisions of COP-08 and COP-09, and a subsequent phase 1 from 2017 to 2021 – which had all the decisions of COP-01 through COP-13 reviewed. Currently, phase 2 seeks to improve and fully operationalize the DTT.  The Government of Japan, through the Japan Biodiversity Fund has generously supported the development of the tool and the uploading and tagging of decision texts since 2017. 

Retirement of Decisions Prior to the Decision Tracking Tool

Prior to the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, there were no formal mechanisms to review the implementation of COP decisions. The fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, in its decision V/20, paragraph 4, decided to review previous decisions periodically in order to assess their status of implementation. In paragraph 37 of the same decision, the Conference of the Parties also decided that it was necessary to enhance the review and facilitation of implementation of the Convention.

At the Open-ended intersessional meeting on the Strategic Plan, National Reports and the implementation of the Convention in 2001, in document CBD/MSP/5, the Executive Secretary proposed that reviewing the status of implementation of the decisions of the Conference of the Parties, with a view to retiring those that have been implemented or overlap and/or are repetitive, would improve coherence and focus of the decisions as a whole. It was also recommended that while the Executive Secretary can provide a preliminary review of the status of the implementation of decisions, the determination of status should only be done by the COP. The corresponding recommendation included a request to the Executive Secretary to propose a preliminary list of decisions and elements of decisions that could be retired. That request was fulfilled in CBD/COP/6/5/Add.4 and CBD/COP/6/INF/17.

At the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, decision VI/27 B retired the first set of decisions in its annex. Subsequently, decisions VII/33, X/14, and XI/12 also engaged in the retirement of decisions.

At COP-11, in paragraph 2 of decision XI/12, the Conference of the Parties decided to refocus the exercise towards supporting the review of implementation of existing decisions and creating a good basis for the adoption of new decisions. In paragraph 3 of the same decision, the Parties requested the Executive Secretary to make proposals on how best to do this.

At the fifth meeting of the Ad-Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention, the Executive Secretary presented a history of the experience with the retirement of decisions and a proposal to review decisions for purposes other than retirement through a DTT (CBD/WGRI/5/13). The Working Group adopted recommendation 5/9 to develop the DTT on a pilot basis (reviewing decisions from COP-08 and COP-09). The Conference of the Parties adopted this language in decision XII/28. This decision includes an annex outlining the information that should be made available through the tool.

Pilot Phase (2016)

The pilot phase took place in the intersessional period between COP-12 and SBSTTA-20/SBI-01. The tool was developed and the decisions of COP-08 and COP-09 were reviewed using the information in the annex of decision XII/28. The two conclusions from the pilot phase, detailed in CBD/SBI/1/10/Add.2, were:

  1. The DTT is not fully effective unless all decisions of the COPs are reviewed.
  2. Maintaining the DTT is an ongoing process as the statuses of each decision paragraph must continuously be updated.

At SBI-1, Parties both welcomed the progress made in the pilot and took note of the application of the pilot to the review of the decisions of COP-08 and COP-09 in CBD/SBI/REC/1/9 paragraph 3. In decision XIII/25 paragraph 5, the Conference of the Parties requested 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.

First Phase (2017-2021)

By SBI-02 the DTT contained all review information on all decisions up to and including COP-12. Like the pilot, the analysis was conducted according to the criteria in the annex of decision XII/28. The Aichi Targets were added as a search feature. 

The pre-session document presented to SBI-2 (CBD/SBI/2/11) proposed that all future notifications and relevant documentation be incorporated into the DTT in relation to the appropriate decision or element of a decision as soon as such notifications are issued or documents are made available. The document also stressed (as had been after the pilot phase) that the maintenance of the DTT is an ongoing task as the status of decisions changes over time. The DTT was not included in a recommendation of the second meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation.

Second Phase (2022-Present)

At COP-15, the Secretariat reported in document CBD/COP/15/INF/14 that in late 2021, the United Nations Board of Auditors recommended that the Secretariat accelerate the finalization of the DTT, the manual for users, and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the maintenance and updating of information in the DTT. The Secretariat aimed to both complete testing of the tool, including the fixing of any gaps and errors, by the end of 2022, and to invite Party representatives and other users to start using and testing the tool with the aim of providing feedback by the first quarter of 2023. The Secretariat also acknowledged that most of the work undertaken in the development of the DTT benefited from the extensive support of the JBF. In decision 15/6 paragraph 29(e), the Executive Secretary was requested to (among others) further develop the DTT to support the operationalization of the enhanced multidimensional approach to planning, monitoring, reporting and review.

In response to requests in decision 15/18 B and C, paragraphs 8 and 10, under the item on review of effectiveness of processes under the Convention and its Protocols, the Executive Secretary consulted Parties and other stakeholders to gather their views on ways to improve the effectiveness of processes, including among others, the DTT. The results of the survey were shared in CBD/SBI/4/11. The survey showed that many respondents were not aware of the DTT. In the same presession document, the Secretariat identified that the tool should be further developed and improved to realize its full potential including through:

  • Enhancements to the user interface
  • Improvements to the search function and other interactive features.

The annex of decision 16/9 A on the Programme of work for the clearing-house mechanism for the period 2024-2030 listed the further development and operationalization of the DTT to track progress in implementing decisions of the COPs as a strategic action to be taken from 2025-2026. The stated desired outcome of this strategic action is the facilitation and support of planning, monitoring, reporting and review of progress in the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Convention.

The Secretariat provided an update on development of the DTT in documents CBD/SBI/6/9 and CBD/SBI/6/INF/11 submitted to SBI-6 in February 2026. The following improvements were identified as next steps to fully operationalize the DTT:

  1.  Tagging decisions taken by the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth and subsequent meetings, with the relevant goals and targets, and where possible elements of section C, of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework; 
  2. Refining the tagging of decisions with the relevant stakeholders and thematic areas/subjects in a systematic way using a common taxonomy; 
  3. Developing a standard operating procedure within the Secretariat for the regular review of elements of decisions to validate tagging, to update status of implementation, and to share data across relevant systems internally; 
  4. Linking decisions of the Conference of the Parties which cross-reference each other as well as linking decisions of the Conference of the Parties with relevant notifications, documents or other outputs. This would allow users to see both the history of the decision and the subsequent decisions and documents which were developed on the basis of a decision. This information could also provide evidence to justify a change of status to “Implemented” or “Superseded”;
  5. Providing functionality to allow Parties to use the tool to identify actions directed toward Parties and to track their own progress, and the overall status of the elements of decisions directed to Parties; 
  6. Improving the online system behind the decision-tracking tool, including the search function to facilitate more precision in search outcomes; 
  7. Dashboards for displaying progress to make the tracking of progress more visual and user-friendly; 
  8. Linking and synchronizing the decision tracking tool to the calendar of actions and activities, the system that tracks notifications issued, and other relevant data systems such as those in use to cost draft recommendations/decisions.

The Subsidiary Body on Implementation, in CBD/SBI/REC/6/8 II paragraph 1, welcomed the progress made on the DTT and made recommendations on the further development and operationalization of the tool to the COP and COP-MOPs for consideration at their next meetings. The recommendations made to the COP and COP-MOPs include:

  • Paragraph 7(d) of section II, the Executive Secretary is requested to finalize the DTT and make it fully operational to clearly track the implementation status of decisions of the COPs. 
  • Paragraph 3 of sections III and IV decided that the decisions of the Cartagena and Nagoya MOPs should be included in the DTT. 
  • Paragraph 9(b) of section II, the Executive Secretary is requested to report on the outcomes of the work to the Subsidiary Body on Implementation at [its eighth meeting][a meeting held before the eighteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties].

 

 

 

Summary of Decisions and Recommendations relating to the DTT

Decision/RecommendationRelevance to the DTT
CBD/COP/DEC/V/20Initiates process to review the status of decisions.
CBD/MSP/5Develops the process of decision review and retirement.
CBD/COP/DEC/VI/27Retirement of decisions of COP-1 & COP-2.
CBD/COP/DEC/VII/33Retirement of decisions of COP-3 & COP-4.
CBD/COP/DEC/X/14Retirement of decisions of COP-5 & COP-6.
CBD/COP/DEC/XI/12Retirement of decisions of COP-7 & request of the ES to develop an alternative to retirement.
CBD/WGRI/5/13Proposal from the Executive Secretary for the DTT.
CBD/COP/DEC/XII/28Request to the Executive Secretary to pilot the DTT for COP-8 and COP-9 decisions.
CBD/SBI/1/10/Add.2Report on the implementation of the DTT pilot.
CBD/COP/DEC/XIII/25Request to the Executive Secretary to improve the existing DTT and extend its scope to COP-10 & COP-11 (Phase 1).
CBD/SBI/2/11Report on phase 1 of the DTT.
CBD/COP/DEC/15/6Request to the Executive Secretary to further develop the DTT.
CBD/SBI/4/11DTT included in a survey on review of effectiveness.
CBD/COP/DEC/16/9 ADTT included in CHM programme of work.
CBD/SBI/6/INF/11Update on progress of DTT.
CBD/SBI/REC/6/8Recommendation which would decide to finalize the DTT for the Convention and the expansion of the DTT to the Protocols.
CBD/COP/DEC/16/25Requests the Executive Secretary to make efforts to limit the size of draft recommendations by subsidiary bodies or draft decisions by governing bodies, and to avoid duplication and redundancy with existing decisions.

 

 

 

List of Retired Decisions

Retired Decision or Decision Element(s)Decision Where it was Retired
Decision I/2, paras. 4-8Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision I/3, paras. 2-4Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision I/4, paras. 2 and 3Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision I/5, para. 1Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision I/6, part I, para. 3 to 9 (part I)Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision I/6, part IIDecision VI/27 B para 3
Decision I/7, paras.1 (d), 2, 4 (and annex)Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision I/9Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision I/10Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision I/11Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision I/13Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/1, paras. 1, 2 and 4-6Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/2Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/3, paras. 1, 4 (a), 5, 6, 10 and 11Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/4, paras. 2-4Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/5Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/6, paras. 3, 4, 7 and 12Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/7, para. 7Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/8, paras. 6 and 7Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/9, paras. 1, 2(b) and 4Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/10, paras. 7, 9, 10 and 14Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/11, para. 1(a)Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/12, paras. (a) and (c)Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/13, paras. 1 and 5-7Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/14Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/15Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/16Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/17, paras. 4, 5, 9, 11Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/18Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/19, paras. 1 and 3-6Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/20, paras. 1-10Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/21Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/22Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision II/23Decision VI/27 B para 3
Decision III/2Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/3, paras. 1, 2 and 4 and 5Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/4, paras. 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 14Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/5, para. 7Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/6, paras. 2(b) and 6Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/7Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/8, para. 2Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/9, paras. 8 and 11Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/11, paras. 1 to 12, 18, 23 and 24Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/12Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/13Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/14, paras. 3, 6, 8 to 12Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/15, paras. 1, 2 and 7Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/16Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/17, paras. 3 to 6Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/18, paras. 1, 5, 7 and 8Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/19Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/20Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/21, paras. 1, 4 to 7, 9 and 11Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/22Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/24, paras. 1 to 4Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/25Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/26Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision III/27Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/1 A, paras. 1, 2, 3 and 5Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/1 B, paras. 1 and 2Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/1 C, paras. 2, 5 and 6Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/1 D, paras. 1 and 3Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/2, paras. 7, 9(d), 10(a), 10(c), 10(f), 10(j) and 10(k)Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/3Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/4, para. 1, 4 to 5, 8, 10, and annex 1Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/5, para. I(1), I(2), II(1) to II(3) and annexDecision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/6, paras. 1, 2, 5, 7 to 13Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/7Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/8, paras. 1, 2, 3 and 6(d)Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/9, paras.5, 6, 8 to 11, 14 and 16Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/10, Part A, paras. 1(b), 1(d), 1(e), 1(g), 5(a), 5(b), 5(c)Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/10, Part B, para. 6Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/10, Part C, paras. 2 to 4, 8 to 11Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/11, para. 3Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/12Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/14, paras 1 to 3Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/15, paras 1 to 3, 7 and 11 to 17Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/16, paras 1 to 4, 10, 16, 17, 19 to 21Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/17, paras 2 to 7, 10 to 15Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/18Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision IV/19Decision VII/33 para 1
Decision V/1Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/2, paragraphs 1 and 3-8Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/3Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/4, paragraphs 1-20 and annex IDecision X/14 para 3
Decision V/5, paragraphs 1-2, 8, 20-21 and 28-29Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/6, paragraphs 4-5Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/7, paragraphs 1-3 and 5Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/8, paragraphs 3-5, 13 and 15-16Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/9, paragraphs 2-4 and 6Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/10Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/11, paragraphs 2-3, 7-8 and 17Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/12Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/13, paragraph 1Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/14Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/16, paragraphs 6 and 8-9Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/17, paragraphs 1-3, 5 and 7 (c) and (d)Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/18Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/19, paragraphs 2-4 and 8Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/20, paragraphs 4, 6, 10-17, 23, 27-28, 29 (b) and (e), 30-33 and 37-40Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/21, paragraphs 1 and 6-11Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/22, paragraphs 1-5, 9, 11-17, 19 and 21Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/23, paragraphs 6-9Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/24, paragraphs 1-3 and 7Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/25Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/26 A, paragraph 15Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/27Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/28Decision X/14 para 3
Decision V/29Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/1, paragraphs 1-5 and 7Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/2, paragraphs 1-3 and 5Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/4Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/5, paragraphs 4-6, 14-15, 17 and 21Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/6, paragraphs 1, 3 and 6Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/8, paragraphs 2 and 8Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/10, paragraphs 1, 4, 6-9, 12-19, 22, 25 and 28Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/11 paragraph 1Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/13, paragraphs 1-5Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/14Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/15, paragraphs 1 and 5-7Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/16, paragraphs 1-4 and 11 (g)Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/17, paragraphs 1, 9 and 11Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/18Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/19 paragraph 4Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/20, paragraphs 2-3, 14-18, 28, 31 and 37Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/22, paragraphs 1-8, 19 (a), (b), (d) and (f), 26-27, 41-43 and 45Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/23, paragraphs 9 and 32Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/24 A, paragraphs 1 and 8Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/24 B, paragraphs 1-2 and 6 and 8Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/24 D, paragraph 8Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/25, paragraphs 1-4, 7 and 10Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/26, paragraphs 1 and 4Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/27 A, paragraphs 9 and 13Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/27 B, paragraphs 1-11 and 16-19Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/28Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/29, paragraphs 1-3, 5, 7-8 and 10-29Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/30Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/31Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VI/32Decision X/14 para 3
Decision VII/1, paragraphs 1-4, 7-8 and 10Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/2, paragraphs 4-5 and 8-9Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/3, paragraphs 1-2, 9 and 12Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/4, paragraphs 1-3, 14(c), 16, 21, 25 and 28-30Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/5, paragraphs 1-2, 4, 15, 37, 40-41, 47 and 54Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/6, paragraphs 1-4 and 6Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/7Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/8, paragraphs 1 and 4Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/9, paragraphs 1, 6 and 7(b)Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/10, paragraphs 1-2 and 10Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/11, paragraphs 5, 9(a) and (c)-(d) and 11-12Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/12, paragraphs 3 and 5Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/13, paragraphs 2-3, 4(c), (e) and (f), 5(a) and (b), 7(f), 9 and 10Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/14, paragraphs 3(a) and (b) and 4-5Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/15, paragraphs 3-7, 10-14, 16-17 and 19-20Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/16, Section A, paragraph 1; Section B, paragraphs 1 and 2; Section C, paragraphs 1-3; Section E, paragraphs 2-7; and Section H, paragraph 8Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/17Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/18, paragraphs 3, 6 and 8-12Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/19, Section B, paragraphs 1-4; Section C, paragraphs 1-3; Section D, paragraphs 1-9, and annex; and Section E, paragraphs 6-7 and 9-11Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/21, paragraphs 1-2 and 4-9Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/22Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/23, Section A, paragraphs 1-8Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/24, paragraphs 1-3, 4(c) and 7-8Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/25, Section A, paragraphs 1, 4 and 7, and Section B, paragraphs 1-4, 8 and 9Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/26, paragraphs 4 and 5Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/27, paragraphs 3-5, 8-10(a)-(c) and (f), and 12Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/28, paragraphs 2-3, 10, 14, 16, 24-26, 28-30 and 35(a) and (b)Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/29, paragraphs 6, 7 and 12Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/30, paragraphs 1-18, 20, 22 and 24-27, and annexes I-IIIDecision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/31, paragraphs 3 and 7-8, and annexes I and IIDecision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/32, paragraphs 2(b) and (c), 4 and 5Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/33, paragraphs 1-9, and annexDecision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/34, paragraphs 1-4, 6-26, 28 and 31Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/35Decision XI/12 para 1
Decision VII/36Decision XI/12 para 1