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

Under the theme “Effective, inclusive and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution,” delegates adopted 15 resolutions, two decisions, and a Ministerial Declaration, covering topics including the highly hazardous pesticides, sustainable lifestyles, sand and dust storms

Parties adopted a decision operationalizing the new loss and damage fund and a number of parties announced pledges for its initial capitalization. But negotiations were difficult on the other central outcomes: the first Global Stocktake, the Global Goal on Adaptation

Collaboration between the Treaty and relevant international instruments and organizations came into the spotlight as the Governing Body worked through its agenda, including enhancing the Treaty’s Multilateral System of access and benefit-sharing, farmers’ rights, and the impact of technological developments

Delegates continued work on the development of exploitation regulations for seabed mining, following a roadmap adopted in July 2023. However, regulating commercial exploitation of deep-sea minerals is no easy task, and there is no real indicator of progress for assessing

The meeting is expected to clarify possible scenarios given the rapid approach of the deadline triggered by Nauru’s request to apply for approval of a deep-sea mineral exploitation plan.

The pressure is on as negotiators face impending deadlines for whether to adopt regulations, rules, and procedures to move forward with commercial exploitation of the deep sea or whether to call for a moratorium or precautionary pause on deep sea

For the first time, countries agreed to recognize the need for finance to respond to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, and quickly established a fund and the necessary funding arrangements, with the details to

Despite phasing out 98% of ozone depleting substances worldwide relative to a 1990 baseline and making major inroads in avoiding catastrophic climate change, parties grappled with recent scientific findings, whether and how to build on the Protocol’s success to tackle