Notification 2026-078

I am pleased to inform Parties and observers that the Secretariat is organizing two online events in preparation for the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-17), from 19 to 30 October 2026 in Yerevan, Armenia. The sessions are open to anyone interested in joining, will be recorded and will be conducted in English only. Review Methodology During the seventh meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI-7), which took place from 4 to 12 August 2026, a Friends of the Co-Chairs Group was established under Item 5 to consider the review methodology. The group completed its consideration of the table of the elements of the review methodology, with a few elements remaining in brackets. However, due to time constraints, the group did not discuss the conceptual framework, approach and governance of the methodology. As such, the group requested the Secretariat’s support in organizing an informal session to take place between SBI-7 and COP-17 to discuss the remaining elements of the methodology. The session will take place on Wednesday, 7 October 2026 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT and those who wish to participate can join using the following link: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/66f8d67b-08c3-4c2a-a955-577d6053fc17@0f9e35db-544f-4f60-bdcc-5ea416e6dc70 This session will be led by the co-facilitators of the Friends of the Co-Chairs Contact Group, Ms. Melissa Cotterill of Australia and Ms. Mphatso Kalema of Malawi, and the discussion will be based on the annex to document: https://www.cbd.int/documents/CBD/SBI/7/L13. Operational aspects of the Cali Fund The Subsidiary Body on Implementation at its seventh meeting requested the Executive Secretary to facilitate an online discussion with the Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office, the United Nations partners and the Steering Committee of the Multilateral Mechanism, including the Cali Fund (recommendation 7/4, paragraph 2). The online discussion will take place on Friday, 9 October at 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. EDT and will be facilitated by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. It will cover the operational aspects of the Cali Fund including, but not limited to, the "Standard Memorandum of Understanding for the Cali Fund for the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits from the Use of Digital Sequence Information on Genetic Resources using Pass-through Fund Management”, which was signed on 25 February 2025. Those who wish to participate in the online discussion can register via the following link at the earliest convenience but not later than 7 October 2026 at: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/adfa3d17-675c-43c6-92bd-ccb4824d7321@0f9e35db-544f-4f60-bdcc-5ea416e6dc70?source=copyLinkLegacyShareLinkDialog . With a view to focus the exchanges on the issues of greatest interest to participants, the online discussion will be guided by questions indicated by participants in the above registration form. Please accept, Sir, Madam, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: ABS national focal points and CBD national focal points (where ABS focal points have not yet been designated), indigenous peoples and local communities, and relevant organizations