Notification 2014-084

Dear Madam/Sir, I am pleased to inform you that drafts of the executive summary and complete report of the fourth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-4) are now available for review. The technical background documents which provide the scientific underpinning for the Global Biodiversity Outlook are also being made available for a second round of review. I invite you and your technical experts to participate in the peer review process. I would also like to take this opportunity to inform you that on 21 June 2014, a one-day workshop on the fourth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook will be held at the Palais des Congrès, in Montreal, Canada, prior to the eighteenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-18). The workshop is open to all interested participants and its overall purpose is to raise awareness of the report and to collect input and ideas about follow-up activities. Further information on this workshop will be made available at: http://www.cbd.int/doc/?meeting=GBOWS-2014-01. You will recall that the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, at its tenth meeting, decided that the GBO-4 would be prepared to provide a mid-term review of progress towards the attainment of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (decision X/2). In decision XI/3, the Conference of the Parties stressed the importance of national reports and their timely submission to preparing the GBO-4 and requested the Executive Secretary to make a draft available for review at a meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice prior to the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties. Accordingly, GBO-4 is being prepared by the Executive Secretary, under the guidance of the Bureau of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice and the GBO-4 Advisory Group, and in collaboration with a number of partners including DIVERSITAS, the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre and members of the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership among others. As the flagship publication of the Convention, GBO-4 will be an important source of information for discussions related to the mid-term assessment of progress towards the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, as well as to the ongoing discussions related to the development of sustainable development goals. GBO-4 will be launched during the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, to take place in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, from 6 to 17 October 2014. Further information on GBO-4 is available at: http://www.cbd.int/en/gbo4. The draft executive summary of GBO-4 has been made available as document UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/18/2 and can be accessed from the SBSTTA-18 documents page (https://www.cbd.int/doc/?meeting=sbstta-18). The complete first draft of the GBO-4 has also been made available as an information document for SBSTTA-18 and can be accessed from: https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/sbstta/sbstta-18/information/sbstta-18-inf-02-en.pdf. The draft technical background documents can be accessed from: http://www.cbd.int/gbo4review/. Please note that the draft technical documents have undergone a previous round of peer review. Guidelines for the review of the documents and a template for providing comments are available from: http://www.cbd.int/gbo4review/. Comments should be sent by e-mail to secretariat@cbd.int or by fax to +1 514 288 6588, no later than 9 July 2014. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points, SBSTTA Focal Points, relevant organizations, scientists, indigenous and local communities, and other relevant stakeholders