Pollinators – including bees, butterflies, birds and other taxa – are fundamental to agrifood systems, contributing directly and indirectly to food security, nutrition, agricultural productivity, biodiversity and rural livelihoods. A significant proportion of global crop production depends on animal pollination, making pollinators indispensable for sustainable development and food security. Moreover, beekeeping supports the livelihoods of millions of people worldwide.
Despite their importance, pollinators face increasing threats from habitat loss and fragmentation, climate change, unsustainable agricultural practices, pesticide use, invasive species, and pests and diseases. These pressures are contributing to declines in pollinator populations worldwide, with serious implications for ecosystem resilience and agrifood systems.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Commission), has recognized pollinators as critical for agrifood systems. At its 20th Regular Session in March 2025, the Commission recommended that FAO convene a meeting to consider next steps in the establishment of a Global Pollinator Platform to strengthen coordinated global action on pollinator conservation and sustainable management. This call was subsequently endorsed by the FAO Conference.
On the basis of a detailed review of the status and trends of the conservation and sustainable use of pollinators, the Commission envisaged that the Platform could function as an effective and lean multi-stakeholder mechanism for supporting coordination among existing efforts, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity’s International Pollinators Initiative and its Plan of Action 2018–2030, while enabling coordination scaling up and knowledge exchange.
In alignment with existing global frameworks, including the International Pollinators Initiative, whose implementation is facilitated by FAO, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Global Pollinator Platform could, once established, serve as a global mechanism to support:
- Coordination: aligning and strengthening global, regional, and national efforts on pollinator conservation and sustainable management
- Knowledge and data sharing: facilitating access to data, research, and information on pollinators
- Capacity development: supporting training, monitoring, and technology transfer
- Policy and technical support: providing guidance, tools, and advisory services to countries
- Resource mobilization: catalysing investments and partnerships for pollinator-related initiative
Accordingly, a Global Pollinator Conference will be held from 5 to 6 November 2026 at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, to define the next steps for establishing and operationalizing the Platform.
The Conference is open to FAO Members, relevant international organizations, technical experts, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and relevant stakeholders. The Conference will be held in English, French and Spanish and will be webcast live.
This page will be updated as new information becomes available. Readers are encouraged to check for updates.
For questions and information on how to register, please contact cgrfa@fao.org