Decision COP 16/35

The Conference of the Parties,

Recalling the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development,

Recalling also its decisions XIII/24 of 17 December 2016, 14/30 of 29 November 2018 and 15/4 and 15/13 of 19 December 2022,

Taking note of the outcomes of the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme and the inclusion of an item on cooperation with multilateral environmental agreements in its agenda,

Noting the work of the United Nations Environment Management Group in promoting a United Nations system-wide contribution to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,

Noting also the work undertaken by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the United Nations Environment Programme to support the implementation and monitoring of the Framework at all levels, including in the context of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the One Health approach,

Noting further the relevance of the Programme on Man and the Biosphere of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the biosphere reserves nominated under that programme to the implementation of the Framework and to the enhancement, on a scientific basis, of the relationship between people and the environment,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 77/334 of 1 September 2023, and welcoming the development of the United Nations System-wide Strategy for Water and Sanitation by the Secretary-General to enhance system-wide coordination and policy coherence between water action and sectors that are dependent on water resources and water-related ecosystems,

Encouraging further collaboration between the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Science-Policy Interface of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa,

Welcoming the outcomes of the twenty-eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the fifth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement, including decision 1/CMA.5 on the outcome of the first global stocktake, in particular the importance of conserving, protecting and restoring nature and ecosystems towards achieving the Paris Agreement,

Recognizing the contribution of regional strategies, frameworks, plans and initiatives to the implementation of the Framework,

Stressing the importance of enhancing cooperation and synergies among all relevant conventions, organizations and initiatives, in a manner respectful of their respective mandates and with the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities, women and youth, of contributing to and monitoring progress on the implementation of the Framework, in line with its 2030 mission, and the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols, and of identifying common challenges and solutions for achieving global biodiversity objectives,

Taking note of the important work of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on topics related to biodiversity and traditional knowledge,

Emphasizing the goals and targets of the Framework, its mission to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and its vision of living in harmony with nature by 2050, which support the conservation, protection and restoration of nature and the integrity of all ecosystems, including ecosystems acting as sinks and reservoirs for greenhouse gases,

Noting with appreciation the support provided by the Government of Switzerland and the leadership provided by the United Nations Environment Programme in the Bern process, the organization of the Bern III Conference on cooperation among the biodiversity-related conventions for the implementation of the Framework and follow-up activities,

Noting with appreciation also the work of the Co-Chairs of the Bern III Conference and the active participation of representatives of Parties to the conventions, the secretariats of various multilateral environmental agreements, relevant organizations and stakeholders who participated in the Conference,

1. Welcomes the decisions of the governing bodies of other conventions and organizations in which they recognized, welcomed or endorsed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the coordination of their strategies and action plans with the Framework, in line with paragraph 4 of decision 15/13 of the Conference of the Parties, and encourages the governing bodies of other conventions and organizations to do the same;

2. Notes with appreciation the contribution of United Nations entities, other intergovernmental agreements and processes and international organizations to the development of tools and guidance on biodiversity and the Framework;

3. Takes note of the outcomes of the Bern III Conference as an important contribution to effective implementation of the Framework;

4. Notes the work of the Joint Liaison Group of the Rio Conventions and the Liaison Group of Biodiversity-related Conventions for enhancing cooperation and synergies among the conventions;

5. Invites the Parties to the Rio Conventions to strengthen synergies and cooperation in the implementation of each convention, in accordance with national circumstances and priorities;

6. Invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Environment Programme, in collaboration with the Rio conventions and other relevant partners, to continue to implement the Framework, including through the road map for Target 2, in consultation with Parties, other Governments, indigenous peoples and local communities, women and youth groups, people living with disabilities and other relevant stakeholders;

7. Invites Parties that are members of the United Nations Forum on Forests to consider, as appropriate, the alignment of forest-related commitments and actions in their national biodiversity strategies and action plans and voluntary national contributions with the United Nations strategic plan for forests 2017–2030;

8. Invites Parties to consider, as appropriate, the alignment of water-related voluntary commitments and actions set out in the Water Action Agenda, launched at the United Nations Conference on the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of the Objectives of the International Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018–2028, with their national biodiversity strategies and action plans;

9. Welcomes the sixth joint work plan (2024–2030) of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat;

10. Invites the United Nations Environment Programme to continue to support cooperation and collaboration among biodiversity-related conventions and relevant multilateral environmental agreements, with a view to contributing to the effective and efficient implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols and the Framework;

11. Also invites the United Nations Environment Programme to continue its work on the environmental rule of law, while taking fully into consideration the different value systems, as covered in section C of the Framework, which include, for those countries that recognize them, the rights of nature and the rights of Mother Earth in the context of living well in balance and harmony with Mother Earth;

12. Further invites the United Nations Environment Programme to facilitate the exchange of information on initiatives and experiences with the secretariats of other conventions and the United Nations Environment Programme in support of the enhancement of the visibility and dissemination of different value systems, other knowledge systems, living in harmony with nature and, for those countries that recognize them, living well in balance and harmony with Mother Earth, the rights of nature and the rights of Mother Earth, and promoting the development of a joint interactive dialogue on those topics at the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties;

13. Invites Parties to consider the report of the Bern III Conference;

14. Encourages Parties, in line with national priorities and circumstances, to raise awareness of their ongoing process for the update or revision of national biodiversity strategies and action plans across various national policy and planning processes, sustainable development strategies, including for poverty eradication, and policy instruments relevant to the implementation of other multilateral environmental agreements;

15. Also encourages Parties to enhance knowledge and understanding of the potential benefits of synergies, cooperation and collaboration when implementing the Convention and its Protocols, including by increasing efforts to use, collect and share good practices, and to foster information exchange, as appropriate;

16. Invites Parties and other Governments to continue to enhance synergies among the biodiversity-related conventions, in line with options for action at the national level provided in decision XIII/24, in accordance with their national circumstances and priorities;

17. Calls upon Parties, in line with national priorities and circumstances, to establish effective national, regional and subregional coordination processes, mechanisms or approaches to support close collaboration among the national focal points of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols and the national focal points of other conventions and international processes relevant to the delivery of the Framework, without prejudice to the specific objectives and mandates of the various conventions and observing their independent and autonomous nature;

18. Encourages Parties to strengthen cooperation through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, including by promoting the active engagement and strengthening the capacity of subnational and local governments to contribute to the effective and efficient implementation of the Convention, other multilateral environmental agreements and the Framework at the national level;

19. Invites the governing bodies of the chemicals and waste conventions, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other relevant conventions and organizations, including the Global Framework on Chemicals – For a Planet Free of Harm from Chemicals and Waste, to collaborate with the three Rio conventions on Target 7 of the Framework on the reduction of pollution to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity, in consultation with Parties, other Governments, indigenous peoples and local communities and relevant stakeholders;

20. Invites the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to develop tools and guidance on a human rights-based approach to the implementation of the Framework and to convey the results to the Secretariat;

21. Invites Parties to promote synergies through information exchange among existing programmes, projects and activities of other United Nations agencies to jointly further enhance and streamline their contribution under the programme of work on marine and coastal biodiversity of the Convention, in line with the targets of the Framework;

22. Also invites Parties to implement the international initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition in line with the Framework and to collaborate with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in the preparation of an action plan for implementing the initiative;

23. Requests the Executive Secretary, subject to the availability of resources: