05/03/2025

Hosted by International Plant Treaty & International Plant Protection Convention 

21 February 2025, Rome, Italy – The Secretariats of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the International Plant Protection Convention hosted the Heads of the biodiversity-related conventions at FAO headquarters in Rome today in advance of the resumed session of the Sixteenth Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), COP16.2, 25 – 27 February 2025.

FAO Director of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment, Kaveh Zahedi, welcomed the Biodiversity Liaison Group (BLG) and highlighted FAO’s support to governments to accelerate the update of the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and spoke of opportunities to collaborate on capacity development in this regard.

CBD Executive Secretary Astrid Schomaker, for whom this was the first meeting of the BLG, emphasized the importance of increasing synergies and collaboration to ensure more impactful collective action in conserving biodiversity in all its forms.

International Treaty Secretary Kent Nnadozie provided an update, including on preparations for the upcoming Eleventh Session of the Governing Body (GB-11), scheduled to take place in Lima, Peru, in November 2025. Resolution 14.23 of the Tenth Session of the Governing Body (GB-10) calls on the Secretary to continue strengthening cooperation and synergies with members of the BLG to enhance collaboration, particularly on the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).

The Heads of all the other BLG conventions and treaties also provided updates on the outcomes of their respective Governing Bodies (GBs) and Conferences of Parties (COPs), as well as the major milestones in the implementation of the KMGBF. 

The BLG, which comprises the executive heads of the eight global biodiversity-related conventions/treaties, discussed synergies on capacity development, resource mobilization and monitoring and reporting. They also looked at the calendar of upcoming meetings and discussed opportunities to further improve support to Parties. CBD Secretary Schomaker provided an update on the outcomes of COP16 in Cali, and enumerated some of the remaining issues to be discussed at the resumed COP.

The BLG meets regularly to explore opportunities for synergistic activities and increased coordination, and to exchange information. The mandate for establishing the Liaison Group of Biodiversity-related Conventions was set out by the Parties to the CBD, in decision VII/26 (paragraphs 1 and 2). This BLG meeting brought together the following executive heads:

1. Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD);
2. Kent Nnadozie, Secretary, International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA);
3. Sarah Brunel, Officer-in-charge, International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC);
4. Martha Rojas Urrego, Executive Secretary, International Whaling Commission (IWC);
5. Amy Frankel, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS);
6. Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands participated online;
7. Haruko Okusu, Chief of Governing Bodies Unit, (on behalf of Ivonne Higuero, Secretary-General) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); and
8. Jyoti Hosagrahar, Deputy Director of the World Heritage Center (WHC) at UNESCO participated online.

@PlantTreaty 

#ItAllStartsWithTheSeed #biodiversity