IISD/ENB Summary Meeting Reports

As well as the landmark decision on controlling sulphur oxide emissions—which will have major health and environmental benefits for Mediterranean communities—COP 22 adopted several significant plans.

Parties adopted the Gandhinagar Declaration calling for migratory species and “ecological connectivity” to be integrated and prioritized in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Parties also added 10 new species to the Convention on Migratory Species Appendices, approved conservation plans for

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

Delegates considered a document prepared by the IGC President, which identified areas for further discussion not containing treaty text, aimed at leading to substantive discussions based on the elements of a package agreed in 2011 on marine genetic resources (MGRs)

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