The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), also called the Biodiversity Convention, is an international agreement. It has three main goals: to protect biodiversity, to use natural resources in ways that do not harm the environment, and to share benefits fairly from genetic resources. Its purpose is to help countries create plans to protect and use biodiversity wisely. It is considered a key document for achieving sustainable development.

The CBD was signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on June 5, 1992, and became official on December 29, 1993. The United States is the only United Nations member that has not officially agreed to the CBD. The CBD has two additional agreements: the Cartagena Protocol and the Nagoya Protocol.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is an international agreement that controls the movement of living modified organisms (LMOs) between countries. It was created in 2000 as an addition to the CBD and became official on September 11, 2003.

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Use is another agreement linked to the CBD. It provides clear rules to help achieve one of the CBD’s goals: sharing benefits from genetic resources fairly. The Nagoya Protocol was created on October 29, 2010, in Nagoya, Japan, and became official on October 12, 2014.

The CBD Secretariat was the main organizer of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity. After a recommendation from CBD members at Nagoya, the United Nations declared 2011 to 2020 as the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity in December 2010. The CBD’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020, created in 2010, included the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. These were 20 goals set to protect biodiversity, use natural resources wisely, and protect species. However, countries did not meet these goals because the targets were unclear, hard to measure, actions were not reported, and there was not enough funding. Biodiversity protection was not a top priority compared to other areas like agriculture, which made the goals less effective.

Meetings of the CBD’s members are called Conferences of the Parties (COP). The first meeting (COP 1) took place in Nassau, Bahamas, in 1994, and the most recent meeting (COP 16) was held in Cali, Colombia, in 2024.

Currently, the CBD focuses on marine and coastal biodiversity by identifying Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) in specific ocean locations based on scientific standards. The goal is to create an international legally binding agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to help protect and use marine biodiversity beyond national waters (BBNJ treaty or High Seas Treaty).

Origin and scope

The idea of an international agreement on biodiversity was first created by a special group called the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on Biological Diversity in November 1988. The next year, a new group called the Ad Hoc Working Group of Technical and Legal Experts was formed to write a legal document. This document focused on protecting biodiversity, using it wisely, and sharing the benefits from its use with countries and local communities. In 1991, an international committee was formed to finalize the agreement's text.

A meeting to adopt the final version of the Convention on Biological Diversity took place in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1992. This meeting's results were summarized in the Nairobi Final Act. The agreement was signed on June 5, 1992, during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Rio "Earth Summit." By June 4, 1993, 168 countries had signed the agreement. It officially became active on December 29, 1993.

The Convention was the first international agreement to recognize that protecting biodiversity is a shared responsibility for all people and is essential to development. It applies to all ecosystems, species, and genetic resources. It connects efforts to protect nature with the goal of using biological resources in a way that supports the economy. It sets rules for fairly sharing the benefits from using genetic resources, especially for commercial purposes. It also covers biotechnology through the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which addresses issues like technology transfer, safety, and benefit-sharing. The Convention is legally binding, meaning countries that join it (called "Parties") must follow its rules.

The Convention reminds leaders that natural resources are limited and encourages using them in a way that supports long-term survival. While earlier conservation efforts focused on protecting specific species or habitats, the Convention emphasizes that ecosystems, species, and genes should be used to help humans. However, this use must not cause long-term harm to biodiversity.

The Convention also provides guidance based on the precautionary principle, which states that if there is a risk of losing biodiversity, leaders should not delay action because of uncertainty. It acknowledges that conserving biodiversity requires significant investment but argues that doing so will bring environmental, economic, and social benefits.

The Convention on Biological Diversity banned certain types of geoengineering in 2010.

Executive secretary

As of April 2024, the acting executive secretary is Astrid Schomaker.

The previous executive secretaries were: David Cooper (2023–2024), Elizabeth Maruma Mrema (2020–2023), pl:Cristiana Pașca Palmer (2017–2019), Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias (2012–2017), Ahmed Djoghlaf (2006–2012), Hamdallah Zedan (1998–2005), Calestous Juma (1995–1998), and Angela Cropper (1993–1995).

Issues

The Convention addresses several important topics, including:

• Encouraging ways to protect and use biological diversity wisely.
• Controlling how genetic resources and traditional knowledge are used, making sure the country or community that provides them agrees first.
• Sharing research results and benefits from using genetic resources in a fair and equal way with the country or community that provided the resources (governments and/or local communities that shared traditional knowledge or biodiversity).
• Providing access to and sharing technology, including biotechnology, with governments and/or local communities that provided traditional knowledge or biodiversity resources.
• Supporting cooperation between countries on technical and scientific projects.
• Creating a global list of experts who study and classify living things (Global Taxonomy Initiative).
• Assessing how activities might affect the environment.
• Teaching people about biodiversity and raising awareness about its importance.
• Offering financial support to help countries meet their goals.
• Requiring countries to report on their progress in following the treaty's rules.

International bodies established

The Convention's main governing group is called the Conference of the Parties (COP). It includes all countries and regional economic groups that have agreed to the treaty. This group is responsible for reviewing progress, setting new goals, and creating work plans for members. The COP can also change parts of the Convention, form expert groups, check reports from member nations, and work with other international groups.

The Conference of the Parties relies on several other groups created by the Convention. These groups include committees formed as needed and the following main groups:

The CBD Secretariat, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, works under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Its duties include organizing meetings, preparing documents, helping member countries carry out the Convention’s work, coordinating with other international groups, and collecting and sharing information.

The SBSTTA is a group made up of experts from member countries who have knowledge in relevant areas. It gives scientific and technical advice to the COP. It evaluates the state of biodiversity and the progress of actions taken under the Convention. It also makes recommendations to the COP, which may fully accept, partially accept, or modify them. As of 2024, the SBSTTA has met 26 times, with its most recent meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2024.

In 2014, the Conference of the Parties created the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) to replace a previous group. The SBI has four main tasks: (a) reviewing progress, (b) planning actions to improve implementation, (c) supporting ways to carry out the Convention, and (d) managing the operations of the Convention and its Protocols. The first meeting of the SBI was held from May 2–6, 2016, and the second from July 9–13, 2018, both in Montreal, Canada. The most recent (fifth) meeting took place in October 2024 in Cali, Colombia. The Bureau of the Conference of the Parties also serves as the Bureau of the SBI. The current chair of the SBI is Ms. Clarissa Souza Della Nina of Brazil.

Parties

As of 2016, the Convention has 196 Parties, which includes 195 countries and the European Union. All United Nations member countries, except the United States, have agreed to the treaty. The United States did not agree to the Convention because of concerns about national sovereignty and economic interests. This is because the country did not support the rules about sharing genetic resources and benefits, such as those from biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Another concern was that the Convention on Biological Diversity might affect future laws about environmental regulations. Non-United Nations member countries that have agreed to the treaty include the Cook Islands, Niue, and the State of Palestine. The Holy See and countries with limited recognition are not Parties. The United States has signed the treaty but has not agreed to it fully, as approval requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate and is blocked by Republican senators.

The European Union created the Cartagena Protocol in 2000 to improve rules about biosafety and promote the "precautionary principle" instead of the "sound science principle" supported by the United States. The Cartagena Protocol has had a major impact on domestic laws, but its effect on international trade laws is unclear. In 2006, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that the European Union broke trade rules between 1999 and 2003 by stopping the approval of genetically modified organism (GMO) imports. Although the United States was disappointed, the WTO did not cancel the strict European biosafety rules.

Parties to the Convention use two main methods to implement it:

• National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) are the main tools for applying the Convention at the national level. The Convention requires countries to create a national biodiversity strategy and ensure it is included in planning for activities in all sectors that might affect biodiversity. By early 2012, 173 Parties had developed NBSAPs.

• Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Tanzania, created detailed plans to protect specific species and habitats. The United States, a signatory that had not yet agreed to the treaty by 2010, developed one of the most detailed implementation programs through species recovery efforts and other long-standing conservation methods.

Singapore created a detailed National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. The National Biodiversity Centre of Singapore represents Singapore in the Convention for Biological Diversity.

According to Article 26 of the Convention, Parties must prepare national reports about the progress of implementing the Convention.

Protocols and plans developed by CBD

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, also called the Biosafety Protocol, was created in January 2000. It followed meetings held by a group called the CBD Open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group on Biosafety, which met six times between July 1996 and February 1999. This group shared a draft of the protocol with the Conference of the Parties, which met specially to adopt the protocol. After some delays, the protocol was officially accepted on 29 January 2000. The Biosafety Protocol aims to protect biological diversity by addressing risks from living modified organisms made using modern biotechnology.

The protocol requires that products from new technologies follow the precautionary principle, which means taking care to avoid harm. It allows developing countries to weigh public health concerns against economic benefits. For example, countries can stop importing genetically modified organisms if there is not enough scientific proof of their safety. Exporters must also label shipments of genetically modified crops like corn or cotton.

The protocol became effective on 11 September 2003 after 50 countries completed the necessary steps to join it by May 2003.

In April 2002, the Parties of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) agreed to the recommendations from the Gran Canaria Declaration, which called for a Global Plant Conservation Strategy. They also created a 16-point plan to slow the loss of plant species worldwide by 2010.

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits was adopted on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan, during the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties. It became effective on 12 October 2014. This protocol is an addition to the CBD and provides clear rules for sharing benefits from using genetic resources. It helps achieve one of the CBD’s goals: ensuring fair sharing of benefits from genetic resources, which supports biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.

At the same meeting in Nagoya, the Parties also agreed to a revised "Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, 2011–2020." This plan includes the "Aichi Biodiversity Targets," which are 20 goals addressing five strategic objectives:

• Strategic Goal A: Reduce the causes of biodiversity loss by integrating biodiversity into government and society
• Strategic Goal B: Reduce direct harm to biodiversity and promote sustainable use
• Strategic Goal C: Improve biodiversity by protecting ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity
• Strategic Goal D: Increase the benefits people gain from biodiversity and ecosystem services
• Strategic Goal E: Improve how biodiversity goals are achieved through planning, knowledge, and training

When Agenda 2030 was launched, the CBD shared a technical note showing how the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets are connected. This helps explain how biodiversity supports achieving the SDGs.

A new plan, the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), was created to guide actions through 2030. A first draft was shared in July 2021, and its final version was discussed during the COP 15 meetings. Key issues during these discussions included reducing agricultural pollution and sharing benefits from digital sequence information. The final version of the framework was accepted on 19 December 2022. It includes goals such as protecting at least 30% of global land and sea areas by 2030, known as the "30 by 30" initiative.

The CBD focuses heavily on marine and coastal biodiversity. Between 2018 and 2022, expert workshops were held to improve how Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) are described and to identify new areas. These workshops focused on regions like the Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Caspian Sea, Black Sea, East Asian Seas, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Pacific Ocean, Caribbean, and Western Mid-Atlantic. The workshops followed scientific rules agreed internationally. This work aims to create an international legally binding instrument under UNCLOS to protect marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ or High Seas Treaty). The main method is area-based planning, which combines EBSAs, Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs), and Marine Protected Areas with plans for sustainable ocean use. This also connects with the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Criticism

Some people have criticized the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) because its goals have not been fully met. This is partly because some Western countries have not supported certain rules in the CBD that help developing nations, like Brazil. Brazil says it has a large share of the world's plants and animals but does not get enough money or technology from wealthier countries to protect them. These wealthier countries benefit from using natural resources but do not give enough help to protect them. The CBD is sometimes called a strong agreement that has become weaker over time. Some people now believe the CBD should be a legally enforceable agreement, with a group called the Conference of Parties checking if countries follow the rules. Without strict rules, countries can ignore the CBD without facing consequences, which weakens the agreement. The CBD needs better ways to enforce rules, hold countries accountable, and create clearer guidelines to protect biodiversity effectively.

The CBD says it covers all living things, but reports and plans from countries show this is not always true. For example, the European Union's report talks about animals and plants but does not mention bacteria, fungi, or protists. A group called the International Society for Fungal Conservation studied over 100 CBD documents to see how well they covered fungi. None were rated as good or adequate, less than 10% were rated as nearly adequate or poor, and most were rated as seriously lacking or completely lacking.

Scientists who study biodiversity and medicine are worried the Nagoya Protocol might hurt their work. They say it could make it harder to prevent diseases and protect nature. They also fear that threatening scientists with jail time might stop them from doing research. Scientists in museums and other non-profit groups are worried they will have trouble keeping collections of biological samples or sharing them between groups. Medical researchers are also worried about new rules that could make it illegal to share genetic information publicly, such as in databases like GenBank.

William Yancey Brown, while working at the Brookings Institution, suggested that the CBD should include plans to preserve complete genomes and living cells for every known species and for new species as they are discovered.

Meetings of the Parties

The Conference of the Parties (COP) met every year from 1995 to 1997. After that, meetings happened every two years in even-numbered years.

The first ordinary meeting of the Parties to the Convention took place in November and December 1994 in Nassau, Bahamas. At this meeting, the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) was launched.

The second ordinary meeting of the Parties occurred in November 1995 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The third meeting was held in November 1996 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The fourth meeting took place in May 1998 in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The first extraordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties happened in February 1999 in Cartagena, Colombia. This meeting led to the adoption of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in January 2000, which became effective in 2003.

The fifth ordinary meeting of the Parties was held in May 2000 in Nairobi, Kenya. The sixth meeting occurred in April 2002 in The Hague, Netherlands. The seventh meeting took place in February 2004 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The eighth meeting was in March 2006 in Curitiba, Brazil. The ninth meeting happened in May 2008 in Bonn, Germany.

The tenth ordinary meeting of the Parties occurred in October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan. At this meeting, the Nagoya Protocol was ratified.

2010 was the International Year of Biodiversity, which resulted in 110 reports about biodiversity loss in different countries. However, little progress was made toward the goal of reducing biodiversity loss. Following recommendations from Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) signatories, the United Nations declared 2011 to 2020 as the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity.

Before the 2012 COP 11 meeting in Hyderabad, India, preparations began for the World Wide Views on Biodiversity, involving new and existing partners and building on lessons from the World Wide Views on Global Warming.

Under the theme "Biodiversity for Sustainable Development," thousands of government, NGO, indigenous, scientific, and private sector representatives met in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, in October 2014 for the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 12).

From 6–17 October 2014, Parties discussed the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which are to be achieved by the end of the decade. The Global Biodiversity Outlook 4 report, a key assessment by the CBD, informed these discussions.

The conference evaluated the progress of the UN Decade on Biodiversity (2011–2020), which aims to protect and use nature sustainably. The meeting adopted 35 decisions, including one about incorporating gender perspectives into biodiversity analysis.

At the end of the meeting, the "Pyeongchang Road Map" was adopted, outlining ways to achieve biodiversity goals through technology, funding, and improving the capacity of developing countries.

The thirteenth ordinary meeting of the Parties took place between 2 and 17 December 2016 in Cancún, Mexico. The 14th ordinary meeting occurred from 17–29 November 2018 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. At the 2018 UN Biodiversity Conference, nations agreed to reverse the global destruction of nature and biodiversity loss. They also adopted voluntary guidelines for using ecosystem-based approaches to address climate change and disaster risks. Governments committed to accelerating progress toward the Aichi Biodiversity Targets by 2020 at all levels.

The 15th meeting of the Parties was originally planned for Kunming, China, in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After delays, the meeting was split into two sessions. An online event in October 2021 saw over 100 nations sign the Kunming declaration on biodiversity, with the theme "Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth." Twenty-one draft targets were provisionally agreed upon in October 2021 and further discussed in a second session. The second part of COP 15 took place in Montreal, Canada, from 5–17 December 2022, where the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted.

The 16th meeting of the Parties is scheduled for 2024 in Cali, Colombia. Originally, Turkey was to host the meeting, but it had to withdraw after a series of earthquakes in February 2023.