IISD/ENB Summary Meeting Reports

Environmental externalities, underwater cultural heritage, test mining, regional environmental management plans, environmental compensation fund, royalties, safety measures… The list goes on. New elements continue to be added to the already complex and interlinked group of elements that need to be

Despite more progress at this two-week session than over the last decade, delegates were unable to reach consensus on a new high seas treaty addressing marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction and, instead, suspended the session, to be resumed

At the most productive meeting so far, “unprecedented progress” was made in discussions on marine genetic resources, including benefit sharing, area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, environmental impact assessments, and capacity building and the transfer of marine technology.

Delegates to the Barcelona Convention adopted 14 decisions—one on the programme of work and budget for 2020-2021, and 13 thematic decisions, including on governance, an emissions control area for sulphur oxides, and marine pollution from land-based sources.

COP18 highlighted the increasing pressures on CITES as an instrument to counter the rising scale of biodiversity loss, as parties struggled to address stresses other than trade on wildlife populations, including habitat loss, disease outbreaks, and human-wildlife conflict. These are

COP13 adopted 25 resolutions, including on a language strategy with a step-by-step plan to add Arabic as the fourth Convention language, gender, peatlands, blue carbon ecosystems, sustainable urbanization, agriculture, intertidal wetlands, wetlands in West Asia, and Arctic and sub-Arctic wetlands

Delegates considered 90 agenda items and 62 species-listing proposals submitted by 64 countries. Some of the resolutions and decisions adopted concern: actions to combat wildlife trafficking; demand reduction strategies to combat illegal trade in CITES-listed species; provisions on international trade